


Small Things

by Aerolumen



Series: Small Things & It Takes Two [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, pricefield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-17 01:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 88,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12354684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aerolumen/pseuds/Aerolumen
Summary: When Max returns to the future after deciding to do as Chloe asked, she is joyfully surprised to find that the result isn't what she expected. But as small clues pile up, Max must balance her nascent contentment against the seemingly impossible chance that her work is not yet finished.





	1. Unexpected

"Max...it's time…"

Max looked up slowly, not wanting to meet Chloe's eyes. She ignored the rain lashing against her. She didn't flinch at the flashes of lightning or the rolling thunder around them. The storm...her storm...seemed distant. One thought consumed her: she couldn't believe what she was about to do.

"Chloe...I'm so, so sorry...I...I don't want to do this," Max said.

Chloe stepped forward and hugged Max tightly.

"I know, Max," Chloe said, moving back and looking into Max's eyes, "but we have to. We have to save everybody, okay? And you'll make those fuckers pay for what they did to Rachel."

Max stared back, despair etched onto her face.

"Being together this week...it was the best farewell gift I could have hoped for," Chloe continued, her voice breaking, "you're my hero, Max."

Max shook her head and stepped forward. She couldn't think of what to say...there was nothing she _could_ say to express how she felt. So she reached up, held Chloe's cheeks with her palms, and pressed her lips to Chloe's. Everything she couldn't find the words for, she put into the kiss. All of the time they'd shared, all of the regrets, and all of the love.

Max pulled away, hoping that Chloe understood.

"I'll always love you," Chloe said, backing away, "now, get out of here, please! Do it before I freak."

Max started to take a step towards Chloe but faltered. She opened her mouth to say something, but words failed her again.

"And Max Caulfield?" Chloe said, pointing and continuing to back away, "don't you forget about me."

"Never," Max said.

She willed herself to turn away from Chloe and out towards the bay, where the massive tornado inched towards the shoreline. Max knew that hundreds of people huddled in fear down below. Joyce? Warren? Alyssa? Daniel? So many...and none of them might survive. And still she almost stopped, almost turned back to Chloe.

But instead she stared down at the rain-streaked photo in her hands: the blue butterfly on the bucket. It seemed like she had taken the photo so long ago. She focused on it and in moments, everything was consumed by a bright light, the sounds of the storm faded, and then…

The click and whir of the camera. Max grabbed the photo, holding it for just a moment before letting it fall to the floor. She turned away and creeped to the edge of the stall, peering out into the dingy bathroom. Maybe something would be different; maybe Nathan wouldn't come. She waited.

When the door burst opened, Max jumped back to hide.

Nathan's voice.

Max stood numbly, listening to Nathan's attempts to reassure himself. A part of her felt sorry for him; a small part.

The door opened again.

Chloe said, "I hope you checked the perimeter, as my step-ass would say."

Max looked to the ceiling and then down in despair.

"Now, let's talk bidness," Chloe said.

Max sunk down to the floor, raising her hands to her head as Nathan and Chloe argued. Max trembled as their voices rose.

She knew what was coming...and knew that she had to do nothing to prevent it.

The gunshot echoed through the bathroom.

Max jolted at the sound.

She lowered her head into her arms and cried, her tears dropping silently to the floor. She had the power to save Chloe, but she wouldn't use it.

Around the corner, Nathan panicked.

White spots appeared around the edges of Max's vision. She barely noticed as whiteness coalesced around her and enveloped her, carrying her away to the future.

**. . . . .**

The bright light faded and Max found herself standing at a window, staring out at a forest in the afternoon sun. Friday again; no storm, no tornado.

 _Chloe…_ , Max thought, bringing her hand up to wipe away tears that had begun to form.

"Hey Max," a scratchy voice said, "you okay? You just...stopped talking there."

Max spun around so fast that she nearly fell over. She was in a white room; machines beeped cheerfully and balloons floated in the corner. Max was forcibly reminded of Kate. But before Max could take it all in, her eyes fell on the blue-haired figure propped up in a hospital bed.

Max couldn't think. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened.

"Chloe?" she managed.

Chloe's brow was furrowed in concern.

"Yeah Max," Chloe said, "I didn't go anywhere."

Max felt a jumbled wave of emotion crash into her hollowed-out heart.

"Seriously, Max, are you alright?" Chloe said, "you're kind of freaking me out here."

Max rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Chloe, squeezing tight.

"Chloe!" Max said.

"Whoa, Max," Chloe said, wrapping her arms around Max gingerly, "watch it. Loving the affection. Loving it a lot. Just...watch out for my battle wound here."

"Sorry," Max said, standing back and wiping her eyes.

_I don't believe it_ , Max thought, staring into Chloe's face. Chloe's eyebrows were raised in confusion but a smile played at her lips and eyes. _How can she be alive?_

"No problem," Chloe said, "...are you sure you're okay? One moment you're chatting away and then boom, you're all over me."

"Er...it's been a long week," Max said, "lots of crazy things happening. Just got a little, um, emotional there."

"Ha, no kidding," Chloe said, "For a second there I thought you were going to make a move on me."  
A mischievous fire danced through Chloe's eyes and Max smiled.

_At least I know it's really Chloe_ , Max thought.

"Oh," Max said, "that's definitely what I was going for. But then I realized that we're in a hospital room, lots of sharp objects, no privacy. Wouldn't work out so well."

Chloe laughed and threw a small pillow, hitting Max square in the stomach.

Max grinned and threw the pillow back.

"You're adorable," Chloe said.

_This is amazing_ , Max thought as Chloe rearranged her pillows, _I'm totally tripping on this. Chloe's alive...somehow...and Arcadia Bay isn't getting flattened by a super tornado. But...this must mean that Chloe's been hanging out with a past version of me. And that means she doesn't know about my powers...or about anything that happened over the last four days. Back to square one._

Max looked around the room. A small stack of papers sat on a table within Chloe's reach. Max's messenger bag rested beside a chair next to the bed, along with a small pile of clothing.

_How long have I been in this room with Chloe?_ Max thought, eyeing a pillow and blanket next to the chair. _If past me was anything like current me, I probably haven't left since Chloe got here._

A HiFi, the one from Chloe's room from the looks of it, sat on the floor. A short stack of CDs sat next to it.

Max walked over towards the papers and Chloe said, "so what were you saying before you went all mushy on me? You started talking about that...teacher."

Max could hear the venom in Chloe's voice and knew what the subject must have been.

"Yeah," Max said, stepping over to the stack of papers; it looked like there were photos mixed in as well.

_Play it cool_ , Max thought, _if you fuck up and repeat something that past you already said, just blame it on being tired or something. Although why the_ hell _does it have to be Jefferson that we're talking about._

She took a slow breath.

"Mr. Jefferson was one of the reasons I came to Blackwell," Max said, trying to keep her voice steady, "I thought he was an amazing photographer. I thought I could learn a lot from him. I guess I did learn some things...but he was nothing like what I thought he was; he was so twisted and _evil_ ," Max said. She had started unconsciously rubbing her wrists as she spoke; she shook out her hands and grabbed onto one of the hospital bed handles.

"Evil; no kidding," Chloe said, her voice tightening, "Nathan killed Rachel...but it never would've happened without Mark Jefferson. I wish I would've been able to get to him before step-d...before David and the cops. I would've smashed that fucker's face in."

_At least she knows about Rachel_ , Max thought, _that must have been hard….looks like it still is._ Chloe was scowling and Max could see tears in her eyes. But behind the tears...Max looked closer into Chloe's blue eyes and saw...joy. Despite the tired circles and lines of anger that were so familiar on Chloe's face, Max could see peace there, something she'd only seen fleetingly before.

_She knows what happened to Rachel, the ones responsible are in jail, and, from the fact that she actually used David's name, she must have found out that her "step-douche" isn't so bad_ , Max thought, _and...she has me, too. I guess this is the first time in a long while that Chloe can actually claim some peace. But she's still hurting…_

"Chloe," Max said, " _you're_ the reason that Nathan and Jefferson are in prison right now. If you hadn't taken a bullet, it would...could've been a long time before they were caught. Rachel got justice because of you. And now they won't be able to take anyone else, either."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Chloe said, "wish I _didn't_ have to take a fucking bullet. Would've been much more badass to be the one delivering the ass-kicking."

Max smiled and turned her attention again to the papers and recognized them: they were from the drawer in Chloe's room; drawings and pictures from their childhood. Max picked up a drawing of them as pirates.

Chloe glanced over and said, "going through those again? I can't believe my mom found that stuff and brought it; she's adorable. And holy shit, I know I've been beating you senseless with this but I still can't believe that the first thing I saw when I woke up was your face, Max Caulfield. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Then I realized that's dumb. Then I realized your face looked hilarious. Then I felt bad because you were crying."

Max started laughing but stopped abruptly as a sudden thought occurred: _shit_ , everything _we talked about before was erased. Including me admitting how much of a shitty friend I was._

"Chloe," Max said, "I'm so sorry that I didn't call you when I first started at Blackwell. That was so shitty of me...I was always coming up with stupid excuses because I...because I was scared. It should never have been something like this that got us back together. I..."

"Max!" Chloe said, causing Max to take a step back, "seriously, chill the fuck out. We've been over this. Stop guilt-tripping yourself. Yeah, I was pissed. I've wanted my best friend back for five years. And yeah, you were too chickenshit to call me...but I was too fucking full of myself to call you. And hell Max, you saved my life!"

_I did?_ Max thought.

"I did?" Max said aloud.

"Yeah," Chloe said, "you keep trying to weasel your way out of it but you and step-dou, _dammit_...David, were the ones that found me bleeding on the bathroom floor. You got help there fast. Also, I didn't mention this before, but I know your little secret. When you were in the bathroom yesterday, my mom told me that you've been by my bed from the moment they put me in here. She told me you snuck in here so many times that the nurses finally gave up and let you hang out and sleep here."

Chloe smiled and Max's heart warmed; just seeing that smile was like getting a huge Chloe hug.

"I guess I can't keep any secrets from you," Max said.

"Nope," Chloe said, "can't hide anything when Inspector Chloe's on the case."

She reached out and grabbed Max's hand.

"Just remember Max, you're my hero," Chloe said, laying back down, "so stop beating yourself up."

_You have no idea_ , Max thought. But then she winced inside. _I wasn't your hero in the end though, Chloe. What would I have done if you weren't here? Would I have been able to accept that? I don't even know if what I did was the right thing to do. It seems to have worked out. I don't know how though...I didn't think that a shot to the stomach like that was something you recover from._

Max turned and crouched down by the HiFi, flipping it on. The volume was low but Max immediately recognized the song: it was the same one that Chloe had danced to on her bed.

_That feels like it was years ago_ , Max thought, _and I'll be happy enough to let my poor excuse for dancing stay in the past that never was._

"Thanks Max, good thinking," Chloe said.

Max straightened up and said, "so...how do you feel?"

"Fine," Chloe said, "well, not _fine_ , exactly, but definitely way less shitty. They're apparently giving me almost no morphine now." Chloe gestured to the drip bag above her. Max tried hard not to think of the last time she'd seen Chloe with a morphine drip.

Chloe continued, "I don't remember if you heard, but the doc says that I'll probably be out of here, drum roll please...tomorrow."

_Tomorrow?!_ Max thought, _no way. That's awesomesauce...but also kind of impossible._

"Wow," Max said, "I didn't realize someone could recover that quickly."

"Hey," Chloe said, "don't bet against this body; you'd die to have this body. But seriously, it wasn't that bad. See..."

Chloe pulled her covers aside and lifted a flap on her hospital gown. There was a large bandage on her side.

_Her side?_ Max thought, _but Nathan shot her right in the stomach._

Max reached out and put a hand on Chloe's stomach, where she was sure the injury should be.

"Whoa, getting a little handsy there, Caulfield," Chloe said, smiling.

Max pulled her hand back and grinned. She thought carefully and said, "I'm just so glad that it wasn't worse."

"Me too," Chloe said, "they said that if that shithead had his gun pointing just a bit to the left, I probably wouldn't be here. David told me how bad that would've been. I would've told him to shut the fuck up but...I think he actually cares," she paused, "yup, this has been one hell of a week."

She turned and smiled at Max, saying, "I'm really glad you're here."

"Me too," Max said, putting her hand on Chloe's shoulder.

Max's phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and saw texts from Warren:

**Warren** : Hey Max, your loyal taxi man is here  
**Warren** : Got Blackwell's sweetest wheels to carry you back to school in style  
**Warren** : Tell Chloe to check her phone

Chloe, craning over to see, said, "oh, is that Warren?"

"Yeah," Max said, "he says to check your phone. And why is he claiming to be my taxi?"

"Max," Chloe said, "you've been here for three days straight. Well, except for, like, a couple of hours where you had a play date with Kate. Which, by the way, that girl is amazingly sweet. Thanks again for bringing her up here. But yeah, taxi. Look, I really don't want to let you go...but you seriously need to sleep in a real bed. You started looking more like a zombie than me by about yesterday afternoon and _I'm_ the one who got shot. I promise I'll still be here tomorrow. And don't you dare try the sad puppy routine; it won't work anymore...I think."

Max wanted to protest. _I've only been here for a few minutes_ , she thought, _I can't leave now!_

Of course it would be very tricky to explain _that_. She wanted nothing more than to sit here with Chloe. But she could feel what Chloe was saying: this Max's body had not had a restful three days.

_I get my best friend back, I'm in love with her, and I get kicked out just a few minutes after I get here? Totally not fair. Ugh. Groan. Fuck_ , Max thought.

_Wait_ , Max thought, _I'm in love with Chloe?_ She looked over at Chloe, who was idly dancing, with her arms and head, to the quiet music wafting from the HiFi while reading something on her phone. _Yeah, I think I am. I'm...in love with Chloe._

The thought made Max's heart flutter.

_Friendship or love?_ Max thought, _I guess I did find out._

Max then tried to think of some excuse to stay...but nothing came to mind.

"What did Warren say?" Max said, trying to stall for time.

"Dude, this guy is such a huge nerd. I love it," Chloe said, "he's telling me all about his movie collection. He's got shit I've never seen. And if he's your ride again tomorrow, drag him up here please. Still haven't actually met him. I want to tell him in person that I'll school his ass in both Kart and Smash."

"I don't know, Chloe," Max said, "I've heard he's pretty damn good."

"From who? Him?" Chloe said.

"Ah, point taken," Max said, "but when have you played any games lately?" Max couldn't remember seeing video games of any kind among the mess of Chloe's room.

"With Trevor and the guys," Chloe said.

"And they weren't high at the time?" Max said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah...but then again so was I," Chloe said, shrugging.

"Well go ahead and have your matchup," Max said, "I will gladly be a spectator."

"Oh no, Max," Chloe said, "you can't sit out Mario Kart or Smash. You have to par-ti-ci-pate. Also, I know that you're stalling for time right now."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Max said.

"Nice try," Chloe said, typing out something on her phone, "but I _will_ get reinforcements up here."

"Okay," Max said with a sigh, "fine. You win. I'll be back tomorrow though."

"You better be, Max Caulfield," Chloe said, "despite what I said before, I shall shamelessly exploit your guilt over not calling me to keep bringing you back."

"I don't think you'll have to try too hard," Max said, "I'm never leaving you again."

Chloe rolled her eyes but smiled.

"You know," she said, "I believe you."

"You better," Max said.

She picked up her bag and paused to pull out her camera; her original one, unbroken.

"One photo?" Max asked.

"Hell yeah," Chloe said.

Max crouched down beside Chloe, the two of them leaned in, and Max snapped the picture.

"Okay...see you tomorrow," Max said.

"Yup yup," Chloe said, dancing again to the music, "and next time, I want to see you bust out your moves. We'll thrash this place!"

Max shook her head and slipped out of the room, a wide smile on her face.

She'd made it only halfway down the hallway when her phone vibrated:

**Chloe** : now its too quiet in here  
**Chloe** : never realized how much noise you make

Max pounced on that one:

**Max** : That's what she said.  
**Chloe** : dude  
**Chloe** : badass max  
**Chloe** : quick on the draw  
**Max** : Are you feeling lonely?  
**Max** : I'll come back.  
**Chloe** : no!  
**Chloe** : go! sleep! real bed!  
**Chloe** : no more zombie max  
**Max** : Are you sure? I can read you a bedtime story.  
**Chloe** : actually tempted  
**Chloe** : but no  
**Max** : Okay… :(  
**Chloe** : NO EMOJI!

Max chuckled and thought, _I guess some things just stay the same._

**Chloe** : oh shit I think nurse nazi is coming  
**Chloe** : ttyl  
**Max** : Oh no! Good luck! <3  
**Chloe** : ill let that one slide

Max slipped her phone back into her pocket and sighed, continuing on towards the stairs. Max knew her way around; Chloe's room was only one or two down from where Kate's had been.

_Chloe's alive_ , Max thought, _and I have no idea how, exactly...she definitely got shot right in the stomach the first time...right? Does it matter? I certainly can't complain, that's for sure. No storm and lots of Chloe? I'll take it. But still...something different_ must _have happened._

Max left the hospital and found Warren leaning up against his "wheels" in the drop off zone with Brooke in the passenger seat, leaning out and chatting about something that required a lot of hand motions.

_Oh_ , Max thought, _that's interesting. Looks like Brooke finally got Warren; good for her. Good for both of them, really. I might've been slow to figure out that Warren had a crush on me...but he was completely clueless about Brooke. It was_ sooo _obvious. I bet they're "going ape" next week. Kind of wish I was going too...but Brooke was seriously dying to visit the drive-in. Maybe I could convince Warren to drum up some tickets for Chloe and I for the next movie._

"Hey Max, hurry up and get over here!" Warren said with a grin, "Chloe texted me that we might need to come up and drag your ass out."

"So you're both part of this conspiracy to steal me back to Blackwell?" Max said.

"Yep," Warren said, "Brooke and I have been assigned to make sure you get back to your room and into bed. And wow, Chloe was right, you do look a bit like a zombie."

"Gee, thanks," Max said.

"We should do a zombie movie marathon," Warren said.

"Er, I'm not that big of a fan of zombie movies," Max said.

"I'm not either," Brooke said from the window.

"Eh, to be honest, neither am I," Warren said, deflating a bit, "but it seemed appropriate."

Max smiled and got into the back seat. Warren jogged around to the driver's side and they sped off towards Blackwell, the sun setting out in front of them.

Max stared out the window, watching the passing trees as Warren and Brooke discussed their upcoming trip to the drive-in, with numerous Charlton Heston quotes sprinkled throughout. At Brooke's first rendition of "damn dirty apes!" Max returned to her thoughts from earlier.

_The storm never happened and Chloe is alive_ , she thought, _but can I still use my ability to rewind time? Would that cause the storm all over again? How the hell am I supposed to figure this out? I don't want to play around with something that could kill a lot of people._

She glanced over at Warren and Brooke, laughing in the front seat, and another thought occurred to her: _I have the two smartest Blackwell students in the car with me. Maybe I can get some more brain power onto this problem._

"Hey Warren? Brooke?" Max said.

"Yeah?" Warren said, halting yet another "damn dirty ape" line. Brooke looked over her shoulder.  
"I have a...um...a hypothetical question for you both," Max said.

"What's it about?" said Brooke.

Max thought for a moment, _Okay, do I try something metaphorical here or just go literal? Hmm...definitely literal...these two could probably recite time travel movies in their sleep._

"It's about time travel," Max said.

"Liking this already, Max," Warren said.

"I...um...had a really weird dream last night. It took place back on Monday before, you know, the incident," Max said.

Warren and Brooke nodded.

Max described the basics of what happened during her four days in what was now an alternate timeline, doing her best to keep it in the guise of a dream. She began with the vision of the tornado, followed by her discovery of her abilities when saving Chloe in the bathroom. She detailed the strange natural phenomena, peppered the story with examples of rewinding during the investigation of Rachel's disappearance, and described the storm.

"...and then we figured that everything had started after I saved Chloe in the bathroom," Max said, "and so I went back to that moment and...and I didn't do anything to save her."

They pulled into the Blackwell parking lot just as Max finished; Warren and Brooke were silent for a few moments.

"Wow Max," Warren finally said, parking the car, "that was super intense. I don't think I've _ever_ had a dream that intense...and I can't believe you remembered it. And in that much detail! The most detailed dream I've ever been able to remember was about five seconds of me fighting Kirby with a wooden sword on the Empire State Building!"

"Yeah Max," Brooke said, "that's pretty impressive recall. Have you remembered dreams in this kind of detail before? Maybe you should keep a dream journal. With dreams like that, you could supplement your photography with fiction writing."

"Yeah, I've remembered a ton of dreams," Max said.

_Not exactly true_ , Max thought. The only dream she remembered that well was the nightmare during the storm...and she still wasn't sure what the hell that had been.

The trio left the car and began walking towards the dorms.

"But," Max continued, "this was definitely the most real-feeling dream I've had...er, in a long time."  
"Also sounds like it was a rough dream," Warren said, "it's bad enough to nearly see your friend get killed in real life...but then to see her die in a dream what, three times?"

Max nodded.

"That sucks," Warren continued, shaking his head.

Brooke nodded before saying, "well, now that you've told us this crazy dream, what was the question you had about it?"

"The tornado," Max said, "what do you think caused it?"

"Hmm," Brooke said, "I'd caution that dreams don't usually have much logic to them...but that being said…"

"It sounded pretty consistent, didn't it?" Warren said.

"Yes," Brooke said, "it really did."

They both seemed to zone out for a moment as they walked. Max was about to say something when Brooke broke the silence.

"In this dream...or in the hypothetical world in which this dream existed, did the tornado still happen after going back and _not_ interfering in the bathroom?" Brooke asked.

"No," Max said.

"Then, given the events of your dream, it would seem that the interference there was the cause of the tornado," Brooke said and Warren nodded.

"Er, what part of the interference do you think might have caused it?" Max said.

"Hmm," Warren said, "that's tricky. What were all of the things that happened again? In the bathroom at the beginning?"

"Um, there was me rewinding time," Max said, "there was Chloe not getting shot...and Nathan getting away, which meant that Mr. Jefferson didn't get arrested, and that really fucked with Kate too. And then there were a cascading set of consequences after that."

"Okay," Brooke said, "let's go one by one and look at the consequences: as you continued using time travel in the dream, did the eventual storm become more severe?"

"No," Max said, "it was exactly as I first envisioned it."

"Okay," Brooke said, "and did the storm or anything else become less severe after Chloe...um...died or after Nathan was killed or Mr. Jefferson caught?"

"No," Max said, "everything was the same no matter what. Er, unless I went back and let Chloe get shot."

"You thinking what I'm thinking, Warren?" Brooke said.

"Probably," Warren said, "I'm thinking that Dreamland Super Max here took a time hammer to a particularly sensitive spot in time, a point from which important consequences branched out."

"Agreed," Brooke said and turned to Max, "in this dream of yours, it would seem that you disrupted nature in a big way by changing that moment. There had to be a reaction to that. Hence, apparently, tornado. Your brain does seem to be able to dream in a logically consistent manner. Pretty impressive."

They reached the dorm and both Brooke and Warren followed Max up towards her room.

"So, what if, in the dream, Chloe hadn't died but, like in reality, was only injured? Wouldn't the storm happen?" Max said.

"Maybe not," Warren said, "after all, it seemed to be the combination of all of those things happening at once. If only _most_ of it happened the original way, I'd think the consequences wouldn't be quite as severe."

"Agreed," Brooke said, "imagine if you changed Nathan's gun or gave Chloe a Kevlar vest. Or if Nathan was put in detention instead of arrested or if you rewound time in the bathroom _without_ affecting anything. The closer the events and consequences were to the way they were 'supposed' to be, the less nature would be perturbed by it. At least that would follow how you've described things."

"So, if Dream Max still had her time powers," Max said, "she could use them without getting Arcadia Bay plowed into splinters by a hurricane or something?"

"Well, I don't want to speak for your dream world," Warren said as they reached Max's door, "but if using the powers later didn't seem to make things any worse, it seems safe to say that your dream world was only _really_ pissed off about that one event."

"Actually," Brooke said, "that's one thing that has me confused."

"What?" Max said. She opened her door and turned on her light. Brooke and Warren followed her in.  
"The tornado vision," she said, "it came _before_ the bathroom incident...and yet the bathroom incident was what supposedly caused it. What's up with that?"

"Yeah, I was wondering about that too," Warren said, "it does suggest another possibility...maybe there was another factor involved. A third party...or a wizard or something. It seems like there's a piece of the puzzle missing there."

Max immediately thought of the spectral doe...and of the butterfly. _I'd better not mention those...I'm probably pushing to the limits of what they'd be willing to work with as it is._

"Or," Brooke said, "it's because we're dealing with a dream world."

"Yeah, that does make more sense," Warren said, smiling.

_No, it doesn't!_ Max thought.

"I guess I was getting caught up in it," Warren continued, "Brooke's right, Max, you should write that dream down! It would make a great story. Maybe don't tell Chloe how many times she died though."  
That made Max wince.

"I think it's even more interesting to consider what caused the dream," Brooke said, "it's fascinating."  
"What do you mean?" Max said.

"Well," Brooke said, "I'm no psychiatrist but a lot of that dream seems to make sense. Your friend was shot right in front of you just a few days ago...and your dream had you constantly protecting her from danger. Seems like you were exercising a psychological urge to act out a hero scenario. The time travel mechanic fits in as well; it's a power that allows you to reverse events...to reshape things as you want. And after what happened in the bathroom a few days ago, I imagine that would be very compelling. And...er...I'm sorry Max, it couldn't have been easy to be there when that happened."  
Brooke put a hand on Max's shoulder. That took Max by surprise; she'd never seen Brooke show any kind of affection before.

"And the villains in your dream?" Brooke continued, "they were Nathan and Mr. Jefferson. It all fits right into what you're experiencing now. I've never been one for dream interpretation but it really is interesting to see how everything lines up here."

"And the tornado at the end?" Warren said, "I think even _I_ had dreams about storms after that crazy one we had on Wednesday."

"What storm?" Max asked. There hadn't been a big storm on Wednesday...at least there hadn't in Max's original timeline.

"Are you kidding?" Warren said, "there's no way you could've slept through that. Half of Arcadia Bay was without power the next day."

_Wowser_ , Max thought, _sounds like nature_ did _have a response to Chloe not dying. Not going to shed any tears over a day of lost power though._

"I guess I'm as tired as I must look," Max said, hoping the excuse would cover up her lapse in knowledge.

"Oh right," Warren said, "bed time. Even Time Warriors need sleep."

"Okay okay," Max said, "I promise I'll go to bed."

"Good," Brooke said.

Brooke opened the door and Warren started following her out.

"Wait, what if I cause another storm?" Max said.

The pair turned back.

"I mean, say I had another dream and did some time rewinding and saw another tornado coming?" Max said.

"You're really committed to this, Max!" Warren said.

"Well, I'd tell your dream self to just go back and stop yourself from doing whatever it was that started it," Brooke said, "or maybe do it differently or change something such that you don't get on nature's bad side. Small changes instead of big ones."

"Ha, I can see it now," Warren said, "Brooke Scott: Time Travel Consultant."

Brooke playfully elbowed Warren in the ribs.

Max laughed and said, "thanks guys, really...and sorry for being so weird."

"Don't apologize," Brooke said, "that was a pretty awesome story."

"Seriously," Warren said, "you should write it up."

They turned to leave but Warren stopped and looked back at Max briefly with an odd expression, his head tilted and an eyebrow raised as if he'd just thought of something. But he shook his head and walked out with a cheerful "good night!" and closed the door.

_Shit_ , Max though, _maybe I said too much. But if there's one person other than Chloe that I could trust with the truth, it would be Warren. And with everything I just told them, I laid the foundation for it...maybe someday I can let him in on the secret._

Max sat down on her bed, kicking off her shoes and staring at the opposite wall.

_So what really happened?_ she thought, _how is it that Chloe got shot in a different spot? Maybe it something small was different, like what Brooke said. Maybe I made a noise when I went back? Maybe one of them heard the noise and that was enough to change things. That's the only thing that makes sense. If a future version of me had gone back to change something, then_ I _wouldn't be here...I would still be the version of me that had been at the hospital with Chloe._

Max rubbed her eyes. She was half tempted to sneak down to Brooke's room or Warren's to run this past them. But that would probably tip either of their opinions of her straight into basket-case territory.

_The only other possibility I can think of is that something needs to be changed in the past that I haven't done yet_ , she thought, _but that doesn't make sense either because if that was so, Chloe wouldn't be alive. Okay, so if it's impossible that it was a future me and is impossible that it's something I need to do, it must have been something that I already did...right? Unless of course I'm missing something. Ugh...I'll just have to accept for now that things are good. I don't have to explain everything. Just...focus on something else._

Max shook her head and looked around her room. Everything looked pretty much as she remembered it. Some pictures and papers were scattered around.

_Past me must have rushed to grab what she needed to be up at the hospital with Chloe_ , she thought, _I heartily approve._

She walked over to the window and looked down at the plant on the floor.

_Hey, Lisa's still alive_ , she thought.

A note was resting on the plant:

Hi Max,  
Lisa can't wait for her real mom to come home!  
Love, Kate 

_Oh Kate_ , Max thought, _you're the best. I'm so glad you didn't have to go through what you did when Nathan and Mr. Jefferson didn't get arrested...you'd already been through so much and you never deserved any of it._

She glanced up at the window and saw an owl sitting on the tree branch outside of her window.

_Wow_ , Max thought, reaching for her camera, _the photo opportunities that I get...better take the shot._

Max froze. That last thought repeated in her head, this time with Mr. Jefferson's voice. An unpleasant shiver cascaded through Max. Her right hand inched towards her left wrist but she tightened her hands into fists.

_No_ , she thought, _you are not taking this away from me._

She grabbed her camera out of her bag, her jaw clenched. She turned off the light and snapped a photo of the owl. She flicked the lights back on, shook the photo, and put it on her desk.

_You didn't take Chloe away from me, Kate's still here, your ass is in jail, and I'm going to keep doing what I love until your pretentious voice is out of my head, however long that takes_ , Max thought.

She put her camera away and almost immediately began to feel the drag of fatigue again. Staying awake any longer would simply be futile. She sluggishly pulled off her clothes, tossing them onto the floor before pulling on her pajamas and collapsing into bed.

_One fucking hell of a strange week_ , she thought. But the thought of Chloe brought a smile to her face. She rolled over and almost immediately fell asleep.

**. . . . .**

A bright light.

Max felt a gentle breeze and a scene appeared around her, blurry and out of focus.

_What?_ She thought, _wasn't I just sleeping?...is this a dream?_

Sunlight streamed through faint trees around her and she saw that she was standing among a group of people, all walking slowly beneath a tall archway. She looked down and saw that she was wearing a black dress, her doe necklace over it.

_I don't even own a dress like this_ , she thought.

She looked up at the archway and could barely make out the blurry lettering: Arcadia Bay Cemetery.

_Oh no_ , she thought, her glance darting from side to side, _what's going on? Is this another vision? This doesn't feel at all like the vision of the storm. That was perfectly clear; I can barely see_ anything _here._

She followed along with the people around her, squinting at them. She was pretty sure that it was Dana over to her left. And she thought she could see Warren...and maybe that was Principal Wells further in front. And in front of him? A couple, too distant for her to identify through the bizarre haziness.

She passed under the archway and moved with the group; a long walk deeper into the cemetery. Then, up ahead, she could see something different materialize: a brown casket among the headstones, flowers around it.

_Is it Chloe?_ Max thought, _Is it Kate? What is this?_

The scene faded around her as she approached the casket. Everything turned to white and it was gone.


	2. Catching Up

Max's eyes flew open.

A ceiling; her dorm room ceiling. Morning sunlight lit the room and Max raised a hand to her head, groaning. Blurry images floated into her mind: trees, an archway, a casket…

"Chloe!" she said suddenly.

She rolled over and fell to the floor.

"Ow," she said, rubbing her arm while scrambling awkwardly towards her bag.

She flipped the bag open and dug into the pocket where she kept recent photos, frantically rifling through the stack until she found what she was looking for: the selfie she'd taken of her and Chloe last night. Max let out a long breath and sat back onto the floor, holding the picture.

_Everything's okay_ , she thought, _Chloe's fine. Wowser though...apart from being weirdly out of focus, that dream was so real. Whose funeral was it? What am I supposed to make of it? Ugh...the last thing I need is more visions of bad shit happening_. She sighed aloud and thought, _until I see more, there's not really much I can do about it._

She looked again at the photo in her hands.

_At least I can say I've found a new purpose for my photography: calming myself after time travel-related freak outs._

She put the photo down and checked her phone; it was still early and there were no texts from Chloe. She thought about trying to go back to sleep...but her scramble to find the photo had left her wide awake. So instead she looked through the other photos from her bag. They included more selfies of her and Chloe, a selfie of her and Kate in a coffee shop, and various shots from inside the hospital.

_I wonder what the in-between me was like?_ Max thought, staring at a photo of the hallway outside Chloe's hospital room, _I would have seen Chloe almost die and I wouldn't...oh wait, my journal!_

Max reached into her bag and pulled out the sticker-covered book, opening it to October. The text was familiar...until she reached the 7th. Her past self had apparently brushed off the tornado vision as just a vivid dream: only a few short sentences were devoted to it. The rest was about the incident in the bathroom.

_Wow_ , Max thought while reading, _I was scared shitless._

Past Max had written a lot during the time Chloe had been in surgery, passages filled with guilt and fear. Then, once Chloe was out of danger, the tone changed completely. Max turned page after page, reading the explosive joy with which her past self described Chloe's recovery and Max's own success in sneaking into Chloe's room again and again until the nurses let her stay. Max felt touched to see such words in her own writing.

_I guess having Chloe back...without doom hanging over us...made me more like I was when we were kids_ , Max thought.

Past Max's writing had even started to betray confusion as to how she felt about Chloe; wondering if Chloe was something more than a friend...something more than a best friend.

_Wow, past self_ , Max thought, _really hitting the nail on the head there._

She reached the last sentence and picked up a pen, starting a new entry to cover the previous night's events. At first, she was tempted to keep things cryptic. The memory of her journal in Mr. Jefferson's hands left her feeling that it wasn't as safe of a place for her thoughts as she had always believed. But in the end she put the details to paper...this was another thing that she wouldn't let Jefferson take away.

As she finished and put the journal down, her phone buzzed:

**Chloe** : yo max  
 **Chloe** : u have some food u can bring?  
 **Chloe** : breakfast sucks ass here

A picture came through of soupy-looking grey oatmeal in a cup.

**Max** : Yuck.  
 **Max** : I have some granola bars.  
 **Chloe** : granola bars?  
 **Chloe** : ur such a hippie  
 **Chloe** : need real food  
 **Chloe** : after I'm out of here, assbuster breakfast at 2 whales  
 **Chloe** : you in?  
 **Max** : Yes! :):):):)

_No emoji?_ Max thought.

**Chloe** : NO EMOJI!

_Should I repeat history?_ Max thought, her finger over the ":" key. She smiled and thought, _yeah, being evil is fun._

**Max** : :(  
 **Chloe** : grrr  
 **Chloe** : ur so evil  
 **Max** : I don't know what you're talking about.  
 **Chloe** : im rolling my eyes  
 **Chloe** : right now  
 **Chloe** : so when you coming up?  
 **Max** : As soon as I shower, get ready, and find someone to bum a ride off of.  
 **Chloe** : awesome  
 **Chloe** : have a fun shower  
 **Chloe** : oh  
 **Chloe** : and bring hippie granola bars

Another picture arrived, this one of the oatmeal cup on its side, its contents spilled onto the tray.

**Max** : O.o  
 **Chloe** : hate

Max smiled and grabbed her shower bag before stepping out into the hallway. Like many early Saturday mornings, it was quiet and empty. The "End of the World" party had been cancelled, according to her journal, but the silent dorm suggested that most of her hall had either found another way to party or just hadn't rolled out of bed yet.

She showered quickly and returned to her room.

_I probably should have figured out last night how I'm going to get back up to the hospital_ , Max thought as she changed, _but wow was I really tired._

She was considering calling Joyce when her phone buzzed again:

**Warren** : Hi Max, hope I'm not waking you up.  
 **Warren** : Your BTTF-like talk from last night was a) awesome and b) reminded me that the drive-in is doing BTTF in a few weeks!  
 **Warren** : Getting tickets for Brooke and I; you want in?  
 **Warren** : Oh, and Chloe too? Might get a bunch of tickets this time.

_Hmm_ , Max thought, _Back to the Future might feel a bit too much like real life for me...but I do love that movie...and so does Chloe...at least she used to. And I do want to check out the drive-in. It must be pretty cool if both Warren and Brooke are so crazy about it._ She began typing:

**Max** : That sounds great!  
 **Max** : Definitely want in. Chloe too. We'll get our flux capacitor out of storage!

_Says Max, the walking flux capacitor...although at least I don't have to get zapped with 1.21 giga...wait..._ jiga _watts to do my time travel_ , Max thought.

**Warren** : Great Scott! Max is awake!  
 **Warren** : Got you covered, you and Chloe are on the list.

_Hmm_ , Max thought, _I wonder how much good will I have built up with Warren?_

**Max** : Hey, could you do me a big favor and take me up to the hospital?  
 **Warren** : Right now?  
 **Max** : Yeah!  
 **Warren** : Sure thing, Mad Max. your road warrior is here.  
 **Warren** : Can't stay though.  
 **Warren** : Brooke and I are going to an air museum today.  
 **Warren** : meet in the parking lot?  
 **Max** : Yep! See you in a minute.

She grabbed her bag and walked quickly over to the student lot. Warren was already in his car when she arrived; he waved from the driver's seat and she hopped in beside him.

"Hey Warren," she said, "thanks for doing this."

"Any time, Max," he said with a grin, pulling out of the parking lot. Max noticed that the grin seemed a little forced.

_I hope everything's okay_ , Max thought.

After a few moments of Warren tapping nervously on his steering wheel, he said, "Max...um...I wanted to tell you something."

"Sure," Max said.

"Well...I wanted to apologize for being...weird," Warren said.

"Huh?" Max said, "we're all a little weird, Warren. It's nothing to apologize for. I like your weirdness."

"Er, sorry," he said, "that's not what I meant."

Max waited. Warren exhaled loudly.

"I sort of had a huge crush on you, Max," Warren said quickly, "and I realize that I was being really weird about it."

Max stared at Warren. _Oh, awkward turtle_ , she thought, _the past version of me probably didn't realize. After all, I didn't really figure it out until he asked me to "go ape". Kind of embarrassing that I didn't notice before that...I never did have a good track record with boys._

"I was texting you a lot," Warren continued, "trying to hug you, waiting for you outside of buildings...I feel really bad about it."

_Okay Max_ , she thought, _channel your past Max._

"Er, honestly Warren," Max said, "I kind of didn't realize. I'm not so great with boys, as it turns out. I just thought we were really good friends. Although...now that you say that, some things suddenly make more sense."

Warren was silent.

"Um, we're still really good friends, right?" Max asked.

"Of course!" Warren said, "you're one of my best friends. You're awesome, Max! But I realized, after everything that happened on Monday, how much I'd been obsessing and I'm really sorry. While you were with Chloe in the hospital I started talking to other people more. I hung out with Daniel a few times and had something like a two hour conversation with Kate."

"She's so sweet," Max said.

"Yeah, she is," Warren said, "she...well, she was still working through everything that came out from, you know, the investigations. I only hope that I helped her as much as she helped me."

"Oh?" Max said.

"She told me to go talk to Brooke," Warren said.

_Aha_ , Max thought, _Kate the matchmaker. Good thing she doesn't remember trying to match_ me _up with Warren...or any of the other things that nearly happened to her...I'll never forget being on that rooftop._

Warren continued, "I had no idea that Brooke was crushing on me as much as I'd been crushing on you."

"Seems like it worked out well," Max said, "you two are perfect together."

Warren smiled.

"Thanks for understanding, Max. You're a saint," he said.

With Warren visibly more relaxed, they talked about the shows that Warren kept on his flash drive until they pulled into the hospital parking lot.

"Are you coming up too?" Max said as she got out of the car.

"Yeah," Warren said, "I've texted a few times back and forth with Chloe but I haven't actually met her in person."

"You'll like her," Max said, "she's blindingly cool...but deep down she's a huge geek. She...oh wait, I guess you know that. She did say that you were texting about movies and games."

Warren grinned.

They entered the hospital and asked at the front to see Chloe. The receptionist called up to check and Max glanced around the waiting area.

_If that tornado had come_ , Max thought, _this place would have been a madhouse_.

Her eyes rested on the stairs nearby and she saw something, a small bottle, on one of the steps. A nurse, dark circles under her eyes, was walking down the stairs and before Max could warn her, she stepped on the bottle and slipped, crying out and tumbling down the stairs. She hit the steps and crumpled at the bottom with a horrible crunching sound.

Warren was already running towards the woman as someone in the waiting area screamed.

Max reached out without thinking, on instinct, and rewound time. She felt the pressure in her head and watched as Warren moved backwards to the front desk and the injured nurse flew back up the stairs.

Max stopped.

The receptionist at the front desk was just stepping away to call up to Chloe's floor. Max rushed over to the stairs.

"Max!" Warren called out, "where are you going?"

She reached the stairs and snatched the bottle from the step as the nurse descended.

The nurse stopped, her eyes wide, and said, "holy crap...I didn't see that there at all! Thanks...last thing I want is to fall down the stairs and have to stay here...right as my shift ends, too."

"You're welcome," Max said with a smile, handing the bottle over.

She returned to Warren, who said, "wow, good catch, Super Max."

The receptionist directed them to head up.

_Keep it cool_ , Max thought to herself, _what Brooke and Warren said last night made sense. It wasn't rewinding time that caused the mega-tornado...it was a combination of things in that bathroom; something special about_ that _incident. But I swear, if I see one damn snowflake, I'll go back to a recent photo and write myself a note._

They arrived at Chloe's room and walked in.

Chloe sat upright in the hospital bed, reading a magazine, which she tossed to the floor as soon as she saw Max and Warren.

"Hey nerds!" she said.

"Hey Chloe," Max said, giving her a hug.

"Hi, I'm Warren," Warren said, extending his fist towards Chloe. Chloe obliged with a fist bump.

"Great to finally meet you," Chloe said, "thanks for shuttling Max's ass around. I owe you one for that."

"No problem," he said, "and I'm sorry to bump and run but I have a date for today and need to get back up to Blackwell."

"Nice," Chloe said.

"Have a great time, Warren," Max said, "and thanks for driving me up here."

"Anytime! Have fun, ladies," Warren said, stepping out.

"Wait!" Chloe said and Warren poked his head back in.

"You. Me. Kart. Smash," Chloe continued, "accept the challenge?"

"Hell yeah," Warren said, grinning.

"I'm going to kick your ass," Chloe said.

"We'll see...we'll see," Warren said, stepping out.

"Have fun on your date!" Chloe called out, "remember to use protection!"

Max winced as she imagined Warren turning a violent shade of red at that. The door shut and Max turned to Chloe.

"You probably nearly gave him an aneurysm with that," Max said.

"Good thing he's already in a hospital then," Chloe said, smiling, "besides, better to mention it than not. You never know when someone might have been sleeping in sex ed."

Max rolled her eyes, her hands on her hips.

"Anyways...Warren on a date?" Chloe said, "ooh la la."

"Yep," Max said, "with Brooke Scott."

"No idea who that is," Chloe said.

"Er...black hair, glasses, flies a drone around," Max said.

"Oh, her...yeah, I can see that," Chloe said.

"By the way, speaking of Warren's love life...he told me on the way up here that he had a _huge_ crush on me until recently...and of course I had no idea," Max said.

Chloe laughed loudly.

_I figured that would amuse her_ , Max thought, smiling, _it's so good to see her so happy._

"Oh, I shouldn't laugh this hard," Chloe said, holding her injured side, "but wow, good old Max."

Chloe abruptly stopped chuckling and frowned.

"Oh wait...shit," she said, "did _you_ like _him_?"

"Er...Warren's great, he really is, but he's not exactly my type," Max said, "I had my chance and didn't take it...and besides, he and Brooke are perfect together."

_Yep_ , Max thought, looking at Chloe, _I had my chance and made my choice_.

"Good," Chloe said, "I felt like a complete ass there for a second. But wow, Max, it is so like you to completely miss out on the signals."

"What can I say," Max said, "they need to start getting the message in front of my lens."

"I see...," Chloe said, a curious expression crossing her face, "so, if Warren isn't your type, who is?"

"Um…," Max said.

A loud knock sounded at the door and Joyce and David walked in.

"Oh Max, no surprise to see you here," Joyce said, a huge smile on her face.

"Hi Joyce," Max said, giving Joyce a hug and saying, "hi David" around Joyce's shoulder.

"Hi Max," David said.

He patted Max on the arm and continued around to Chloe.

"Hey Chloe," David said, "how are you doing?"

"Good good," Chloe responded in the friendliest tone Max had ever heard her use with David. Still a little tense...but it didn't sound like there were any 'step-douches' or 'step-asses' hidden in that voice.

_I guess one way or another, she found out about David's good side; he really does care. I guess it's easier to forgive your overbearing step-dad and incommunicado former best friend when they're the ones who made sure you got to the hospital quickly after being shot_ , Max thought.

"Actually," Chloe continued, "they said that this vacation of mine will probably be over today. They need to poke and prod me some more. And blast me with some more radiation. But then I'll be out!"  
"That's so good to hear," Joyce said, "I can't believe how lucky we've been."

"Speak for yourself, mom," Chloe said, "they've dialed the painkillers way down. Feels like a fucking...well...like I got shot. And of course they put the morphine drip just out of reach." Chloe stretched out her hand towards the clear bag, pretending to strain.

"Ha," David said, "I think you 'medicate' enough as it is."

Chloe glared at David and Max thought, _uh oh_.

But then both of them laughed. Max glanced over at Joyce, who sported a relieved smile.

_They're almost like a normal family_ , Max thought, _it's awful, but maybe this is what they needed. At least they'll never know the mess that_ I _made of their family. And David has no idea that he saved my life. Of course he also doesn't know that I managed to let him get shot...I don't know...five times before I figured out how to distract Mr. Shit-Head._

"Do you know when you'll be out today?" Joyce asked.

"Afternoon?...maybe?" Chloe said.

"I'm sure one of us can take off work to come get you," David said, glancing at Joyce.

"I could take her home," Max said, "although I'd need to borrow a car."

"That's perfect," David said, "I brought Chloe's truck over here from Blackwell on Monday; it's still in the parking lot."

"That's so sweet of you, Max," Joyce said.

"Awesome," Chloe said, "you should stay over, too; it would be just like old times. Although...my room's a bit different from when you last saw it."

Joyce snorted and said, "a bit."

"Thanks, Max," David said, "that's a really big help."

"No problem," Max said, "it's good to be a part of the family again."

"Of course," Joyce said, putting her arm around Max.

"Alright then, sista," Chloe said, "you got the stuff I asked for?"

Max grabbed a pair of granola bars from her bag and handed them over. Chloe eyed them warily at first but shrugged and opened one.

Joyce and David sat down and chatted with Chloe as she munched on the granola bars, making faces at Max with each bite. Max chuckled each time but also made sure to listen carefully to the conversation. It presented a perfect chance to get caught up on various events from the past few days. She found out that Nathan and Mr. Jefferson had confessed to the druggings and kidnappings over the past several months, along with their roles in Rachel's death. David had also been with the group that raided the Dark Room. The anger and disgust in his voice was evident as he talked about what they found. Max made the mistake of interjecting with her own thoughts about visiting the Dark Room. Confronted with confused looks, she'd said, "oops" and rewound to keep those thoughts to herself.

_As much as Chloe and Joyce...and even David...may trust me, they'd think I was batshit crazy if I let the time travelling cat out of the bag right now. I need to tell Chloe...but definitely just her_ , Max thought.

The conversation continued and Max found out that the video of Kate had still ended up online. But unlike last time, a huge outpouring of support from Blackwell students had kept Kate afloat. David was remorseful over the way he'd treated Kate and thanked Max for all that she had done as well. Max had to awkwardly ask what that had been. As it turns out, the "play date" that Chloe had mentioned earlier had been past Max's effort to cheer Kate up by surprising her with tea at a cafe in town, a visit to Chloe, and a walk up to the lighthouse, a spot Kate had never visited before. Max rewound before anyone could press her on why she didn't remember.

Then, after delving into some of Max and Chloe's old papers and sharing stories of their raucous childhood with David, a gentle knock sounded at the door and a nurse stepped in.

"Hi everyone," she said, "I'm sorry to break this up but we need to take our favorite blue-haired patient for some tests."

"Do you think she'll be able to come home today?" Joyce asked.

"The doctor thinks so," the nurse said, "and everything seems to point that way. You'll find out as soon as we do; it should just be a few hours."

Joyce and David both gave Chloe hugs, the latter a bit hesitantly but sincerely, and they filed out.

Max walked over to Chloe's side and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Have a good time on the pointy ends of medical science," Max said.

"I'll have a blast," Chloe said, cringing.

"See you soon," Max said, hefting her bag up.

"Hey Max," Chloe said.

Max looked at her.

"Keys," she said.

"Keys?" Max said.

"You're picking my ass up later, right?" Chloe said.

"Oh right, keys," Max said, "where are they?"

"Pants pocket, on the closet hook," Chloe said.

Max retrieved the familiar panda key chain.

"Anything I should know about driving that monster?" Max asked.

"You have to press pretty hard on the gas pedal...and on the brake pedal. The power steering is a bit fucked. Um...I guess just take it slow; you'll get used to her," Chloe said, shrugging.

"Thank you, Professor Price," Max said, "I'll try my best to not die."

"You'd better not die," Chloe said, "I'm intending on finally getting to hang out with you properly for the first time in 5 years."

"Me too," Max said.

They hugged and Max stepped out of the room.

She glanced around and, catching sight of David and Joyce walking away down the hall, had a sudden thought: _David has a lot of information about what happened in that bathroom. Maybe he can shed some light on what might have been different._

"David?" Max said, catching up to the couple, "I have a question about the...incident with Chloe and Nathan."

"Sure," David said, "what is it?"

"I'm wondering...what exactly happened? With the gunshot?" Max said.

"Well," David said, "I can tell you that we're damn lucky. If that bullet had hit just a few inches to the left, Chloe might not be with us. I've seen what a shot to the abdomen can do."

He was quiet for a moment.

"I'm just so glad that didn't happen to Chloe," he said.

"Why do you think Nathan shot her in the side like that?" Max asked.

"You know, I actually talked about this with Berry yesterday," David said, "from what they've been able to tell from the scene and from interviewing Nathan, it seems that Chloe was pushing his arm away and that he had an itchy trigger finger. If he'd pulled the trigger a little earlier or if Chloe had pushed with anything less than Chloe-like gusto, things might have been different."

_But things were different_ , Max thought, her brow furrowed, _maybe it was just what I thought...I made a noise or something and that changed it. But maybe there was something else…_

"Was there anything else about it that seemed…I don't know...odd?" Max said.

"Hmm," David said, "well, there's the fact that Nathan didn't have the safety on and actually had his finger on the trigger. You never have that combo unless you're prepared to kill someone...but then again he doesn't strike me as a gun safety kind of person. There was also only one round left in his gun. Oh, and he also dropped the gun right after firing; that lends some credence to his claim that he didn't intend on shooting her."

Max nodded then frowned.

"So...there were only two bullets in the gun before he shot Chloe? Is that weird?" Max said.

"For me it would be," David said, "and for most of the people I know. But who knows with someone like Nathan Prescott?"

They'd reached the lobby and stepped outside.

David and Joyce blinked in the sunlight and David said, "any reason you're asking so much about this?"

"Just trying to wrap my head around it," Max said, "I never liked Nathan...but this still came as a surprise."

"Yeah, to be honest, I never liked him either," David said, "always seemed like he was up to something and I'd been keeping an eye on him. Whole lotta good that did...this came as a surprise to me too. You know, I'd been trying to get the school to agree to install more surveillance...but now? I don't know if that would've actually helped. Has me rethinking a lot of things…"

"Me too," Max said, cautiously optimistic over David's seeming about-face on surveillance. She wondered if he still had cameras set up in the house.

"It's the kind of event that forces you to rethink things," Joyce said, patting David on the arm, "reminds you of what's most important."

"Sure does," David said. He paused and said, "well, Max, I'll let you know if anything else comes up."  
"Thanks, David," Max said. He smiled at her and walked off towards their car.

Joyce stepped over, gave Max a hug, and said, "Max, thank you so much for being there for Chloe. I can't tell you how much this means."

"Of course," Max said, "I hadn't seen her in five years but she's still my best friend."

"Seeing you two together, it's like you haven't been apart at all," Joyce said.

"I know," Max said, grinning.

"And you've already had quite an influence on her, I think," Joyce said, "honestly, she's been a handful, that one...but now? I haven't seen her like this in years. She actually seems like she might be happy."

"Anything I can do to make her happier, I will," Max said.

"Thank you, Max," Joyce said, hugging her again, "you're an angel."

"Thanks, Joyce," Max said.

"See you tonight," Joyce said.

"See you later," Max replied, waving as David and Joyce drove away.

Max gazed around the parking lot; fortunately, Chloe's truck was hard to miss and Max weaved through the parked cars to where it sat. Max had been confused at first as to why David had driven it up here...until she remembered that the truck had been parked across two handicapped spots at Blackwell.

_Chloe_ , Max thought, _the parking ticket queen of Arcadia Bay_.

Max climbed into the truck and drove slowly...very slowly...out of the hospital lot.

_I have to say...I definitely prefer Jefferson's Bentley._

She pulled onto the road towards Blackwell and drove leisurely, thinking about her conversation with David.

_Okay, what if it wasn't me making a noise or something that changed what happened? If I assume that, what does it leave? Maybe the gun or the bullets? Maybe Nathan or Chloe moved because of something else in the bathroom? Maybe one of them slipped?_

Max imagined herself pumping soap onto the bathroom floor.

_Ridiculous, yeah, but I should consider every possibility. It may end up being important._

She wasn't sure why she thought that. Everything seemed fine...but the thought that she didn't quite know what happened was tugging at her mind, as was the mysterious funeral vision.

She continued to mull over the incident when an idea popped into her head.

_It's a late Saturday morning; the dorms are probably empty by now...or nearly so. If something about Nathan or his gun was different, maybe I can find a clue in his room._

_. . . . ._

Max arrived at Blackwell and parked Chloe's truck, with some difficulty, in the student lot. She got out and admired her handiwork, snapping a photo partially to prove to Chloe that parking the truck within the lines was possible and partially because she'd been struck by the way the shadows of the trees played over the rusty vehicle. But...mostly the first reason. She put the photo in her bag and walked towards the dorms. Some students were scattered about in front of the main building; the weather was still warm enough to spend the day outside, despite the inexorable march into autumn.

Max was about to pass through but saw Kate sitting at the fountain, drawing in a large sketchbook. Max smiled and walked over.

"Hi Kate," Max said.

"Hi Max," Kate said, looking up and grinning.

"How are you doing?" Max said.

"Better every day," Kate said.

"What are you working on?" Max said.

"Drawings...here, take a look," Kate said, handing a loose paper to Max.

It was a traditional Kate-style drawing: colorful, bright, and happy.

Max smiled and thought, _I'm so glad Kate's back to her old style._

"I love your drawings," Max said, "they'd be so perfect for a children's book; so full of joy."

"Thanks, Max," Kate said, "that means a lot. And thanks again for everything you did for me this week, especially with your friend in the hospital. You made me feel so cared for; it was such a great surprise."

"I do care about you, Kate. A lot," Max said, "you're such a good friend. Oh, and thanks for taking care of Lisa!"

"You're welcome!" Kate said, "and thanks for taking me to meet Chloe. I'm so glad she's okay."

"Me too," Max said, handing the drawing back.

"Oh by the way," Max continued, "if you're interested in seeing Back to the Future at a drive-in movie theater in a few weeks, let Warren know. He's getting tickets and it sounds like a bunch of us will be going."

"That sounds like fun," Kate said, "I will!"

"Awesomesauce," Max said, "I have to run but let's hang out again soon."

"Definitely," Kate said.

Max continued on towards the dorms, thinking carefully about how she might get into Nathan's room. But as she took the steps down from the main lawn, she froze. A doe stood directly in front of her.

_What?_ she thought, _no way._

The doe stared right at her and Max realized that she could see through it.

_Rachel?_ she thought.

The doe walked away to the left and Max followed.

_This is so fucking weird_ , Max thought.

The doe walked around a corner ahead and Max rushed forward, peering around into a quiet area behind the main building. She could hear voices nearby and at first thought that the doe had vanished; but then she spotted it just beyond the path, in the trees. She edged closer and took out her camera. The voices were clear now: Trevor and Justin, out of sight off to her left. But she ignored them as she aimed the camera at the doe.

_Maybe this time_ , Max thought, _I'll actually get an image of it._

She snapped the photo, took it out of the camera, and shook it. When she looked up, the doe had disappeared. Max turned back towards the dorms but Justin's voice caught her attention.

"...Rachel's job for us," Justin was saying.

Max's eyes widened and she inched closer, listening.

"Shit, it wasn't easy," Trevor said, "good thing we had rain, thunder, and lightning as cover. Thought we'd never manage it."

"Yeah, but what was it all about? Why did she want it done?" Trevor said, "the whole thing is kind of trippy."

"No idea, man," Justin said, "she was so serious about it though. 'No matter what,' she said. No way I was gonna say no."

"Still think it was probably illegal," Trevor said.

"Dude, so's what we smoked five minutes ago," Justin said. They both laughed.

_There's no way that this is a coincidence_ , Max thought, _I follow that doe and find Justin and Trevor talking about doing something for Rachel? Must've been important if they did it months after she died._

Max breathed deeply and walked forward into Trevor and Justin's view. They both jumped.

"Whoa Max, holy shit, you're a fuckin' ninja," Justin said.

"Sorry guys," Max said, "I didn't mean to scare you. I followed a doe over this way to take a photo and heard you talking."

She wondered if a mention of the doe would have any effect...but neither Justin nor Trevor showed any sign that it meant anything to them.

"What did you hear?" Trevor said, his eyes narrowing.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snoop but I heard you talking about doing something for Rachel...I'm guessing Rachel Amber?" Max said.

"Sorry, Max," Justin said, "no can talk. That was between her and us."

"Er...do you think she would've told Chloe?" Max said.

"Who?" Justin said.

"Dude," Trevor said, "that's the girl who got shot on Tuesday. Blue hair? Used to hang out with Rachel...and _us_?"

"Oh shit, that's right," Justin said, "I completely forgot her name."

Trevor shook his head and turned to Max, "Maybe she would've told Chloe," Trevor said, "but we're not going to. I know they were close...but Rachel was really specific. No one but us. Sorry, Max."

"That's okay, Trevor," Max said with a half-smile, "I know how important it can be to do what your best friends ask."

"You're cool, Max," Trevor said.

She waved bye to the pair and retreated.

_Shit_ , she thought, _I wish I could have gotten more out of them. I wonder what they did that Rachel thought was so important? Ugh, I'll just put that mystery on the back-burner for now. I have different fish to fry._

Max made her way into the dorm building, pushing thoughts of Rachel from her mind. She opened the door to her dorm hall and nearly collided with Victoria.

"Ugh, Max," Victoria said, scowling, "if you didn't spend so much time looking into the wrong end of a camera, maybe you'd be better at watching where you're going."

_Really?_ Max thought, _Nathan and Mr. Jefferson are in jail, everything's crazy around here, and you_ still _have to be a complete bitch to me? Why can't she just...be nice sometimes._

Max looked at the floor, grasping her elbow, almost feeling Victoria's contemptuous gaze drilling into her. But then she remembered that Kate's video had ended up online and anger boiled inside of her. Max looked up sharply at Victoria and was pleased when Victoria took an involuntary step backwards.

"Did _you_ post that video of Kate?" Max said.

Victoria looked uncomfortable.

"That's what I thought," Max said, "how could you do that? How could you upload a video of someone who had been drugged like that?"

"I didn't know that," Victoria said, "not when I uploaded it...Nathan had _just_ been arrested and I was pissed. Nothing had come out about him and Mark yet...nothing!"

"Is that an excuse? What about Kate?" Max said, surprised at her own rising volume.

"Kate is fine," Victoria said, "and come on; she's been lecturing all of us since she got here. Telling us how, when, and who we're supposed to fuck? It was perfect, so perfect, that there was a video of her making out with every guy in sight. Hypocrisy captured perfectly...at least it seemed that way. No one knew she was fucking drugged."

"Nathan knew," Max said, "Jefferson knew. And I bet Kate suspected it. But none of you who saw the video thought to ask."

"Give it a break, Max," Victoria said, not meeting Max's eyes, "Kate. Is. Fine."

"And what if she wasn't?" Max said, "what if Nathan and Jefferson hadn't been caught? What if it had never come out that she was drugged and there was just the video?"

Victoria remained silent and fuming.

"And think about it, Victoria," Max said, "what _else_ would have happened if they hadn't been caught? Who else would they have taken? You know, when they raided Jefferson's Dark Room, they found binders with names on them; the names of past and future victims. One of those binders had your name on it."

Victoria's face went blank.

"What?" she said.

"And my name was there too," Max said.

Max wasn't sure if that was technically true...but David had glanced at her uncomfortably earlier when speaking about what they'd found in the Dark Room, making her think that Jefferson had _something_ related to her there. Besides, she knew from painful personal experience that he'd intended on targeting her.

"But that means…," Victoria said.

"That both of us could have ended up like Kate," Max said, "or like Rachel Amber."

Max remembered seeing Victoria tied up on the floor in the Dark Room...and then never seeing her again after that in that timeline. Despite all of Victoria's mean girl shit, the thought that Jefferson had killed her still made Max feel sick.

_I know that she's not as awful as she seems_ , Max thought, _and she didn't deserve what could have happened to her...even after what she did to Kate. It's just so hard to break through the wall she's put up around herself._

"Look Max," Victoria said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have sent that video out. It wasn't right. It's been a strange and messed up week."

"Yeah," Max said, "it has definitely been that. Everyone's been through a lot."

Victoria nodded.

A moment passed and Max, remembering her near-term plans, cautiously asked, "have you ever been to Nathan's room?"

"Of course," Victoria said, "all the time. He even gave me a key so that I could grab...items when he wasn't around."

_Oh_ , Max thought, _that's useful to know._

"Really?" Max said, "where do you keep the key?"

"Where do I keep the key?" Victoria said.

_Oops_ , Max thought, eyeing Victoria's suspicious face.

Max rewound.

"...all the time," Victoria was saying, "he even gave me a key so that I could grab...items when he wasn't around."

"Really?" Max said, "you had a key to Nathan's room lying around?"

"Of course it wasn't just lying around, Max," Victoria said, "he had valuable things in there. I kept it hidden in a drawer."

_Bingo_ , Max thought, _there are only so many drawers in a Blackwell dorm room._

"Actually, it was very strange," Victoria said, "I went to grab the key to turn it in but couldn't find it anywhere...oh well, not my problem now."

She seemed relieved to get beyond the discussion about Kate, but there was still a glint of sorrow in her eyes and Max felt like she'd gotten through, at least a little.

_I've gotten through her wall before_ , Max thought, _I can do it again; it just takes time. Too bad about the key though...back to square one on that._

"Now, if you'll excuse me," Victoria said.

She walked past Max and and started down the stairs but stopped, saying, "I'm glad your friend is okay."

"Thanks, Victoria," Max said, smiling.

Victoria left and Max continued to her room.

_Holy shit_ , Max thought, _I've had more confrontations in the last few days, alternate timelines included, than I've had in the rest of my life combined. As much as I hate to admit that Mr. Jefferson had an astute observation, he was right that I've changed. Having the ability to rewind time is quite a confidence booster._

Max entered her room and tossed her bag onto the bed.

_Alright_ , Max thought, _now it's time to go MaxGyver my way into Nathan's room. Too bad I don't have a ninja costume._

Max made her way back down to the front of the dorms, thinking that she might be able to get in through Nathan's window.

However, Daniel was sitting beneath the nearby tree and she figured that even gentle Daniel would make a fuss if he saw Max breaking into a dorm room. But, his presence did give her an idea and she walked over to him.

"Hi Daniel," she said.

"Hi Max," Daniel said, looking up from his sketchpad, "how are you?"

"Doing pretty well," Max said, "what are you drawing?"

"I just started sketching the Tobanga over there but I finished this a few minutes ago," Daniel said, handing a sketch over to Max.

It was a sketch of Chloe.

"Oh wow," Max said, "this is amazing. What did you base this off of?"

"I thought you might like that," Daniel said, "I heard you'd been at the hospital with her. I had only ever seen her once or twice but her picture was in the newspaper, so I used that. It is much better to draw from real life but this seemed to work out."

"Daniel," Max said, "could I...have this sketch?"

"Yes, of course!" he replied, "I'm glad you like it. I would like it back for a few minutes later to scan it, as long as Chloe is okay with me putting it online."

"I'll ask and let you know," Max said, "and thank you so much."

"Of course," Daniel said, "and Max, I also have a question for you."

"Sure, go ahead," Max said.

"Would you let me sketch you?" Daniel said.

"I'd be honored, Daniel," Max said, feeling a completely legitimate sense of deja vu, "makes me feel like a muse."

"Ah, that reminds me of my real muse, Rachel Amber," Daniel said, sighing, "it is so sad what happened to her. So sad. She had a very good heart."

"I know, Daniel," Max said, "it's so hard to believe; everything has just been so crazy."

"Well, perhaps you can be my new muse," Daniel said, "life must go on, even when beautiful souls leave us."

"I must be a step down from Rachel," Max said, sitting down on the grass.

"No way," Daniel said, "you remind me very much of her. You have a similar spirit, I think. I know you and her would have been friends."

"You're not the first person to say that," Max said.

Daniel nodded and started sketching. It was very relaxing, sitting on the grass in the sun, hearing the scratching of Daniel's pencil and his small comments of "good, good" from time to time.

When he finished and held it up for Max to see, she smiled. It was almost exactly like the first sketch he'd made of Max, back on the alternate Monday.

She said the same thing as last time, "best portrait ever."

"Thank you, Max," Daniel said, grinning.

Max paused for a moment before asking her planned question.

"Daniel, I have another favor to ask," Max said, "and this one might seem a bit weird."

"Sure," Daniel said, "what can I do for you?"

"I want to find out more about why Nathan shot Chloe. Could you...be a lookout while I sneak into his room to see if I can find some clues?"

"I don't know, Max," Daniel said, shifting uncomfortably, "that doesn't sound right."

"I promise I won't take anything," Max said, "I'm just...very confused and want to understand why he would do what he did."

"Well," Daniel said, pausing for several moments, "I guess I should follow my muse."

"Thanks, Daniel," Max said, smiling and standing up.

Daniel followed her into the dorm and they stopped in front of the boy's hallway. Daniel went through the door first and then waved Max in.

"I don't think anyone's here," Daniel said, "I'll wait here by the door. I'll come knock if someone comes. And...you do promise that this is just to find out why Nathan did what he did?"

"Yes, Daniel," Max said, putting a hand on his arm, "I promise."

Daniel nodded and Max proceeded around the corner toward Nathan's room.


	3. The Case of the Missing Bullets

Max crept down the hall to Nathan's room, where caution tape was stretched in an X over the door.

_Just like with Kate's room_ , Max thought, _honestly...way better that it's here than there._

She stared for a moment before her eyes fell to the fire extinguisher next to the door.

_Okay, I have to bust this door in like last time._

She grabbed the extinguisher and lifted it up. Max smiled at yet another moment of completely legitimate deja vu. But as she brought the cylinder down, it slipped from her fingers and crashed down onto the end of the door handle...and the door swung open. Max's surprise was short lived; the fire extinguisher fell directly onto her foot.

"Ow! Shit!" Max cried out, hopping on one foot.

Rapid footsteps came from the front of the hall and Daniel appeared around the corner.

"Max!" he said, "are you alright?"

Max rewound. Daniel disappeared and the fire extinguisher flew up from the ground into the ghostly image of her past self's arms. She stopped once the extinguisher was safely back in its holder. Her foot still throbbed with pain but she clenched her jaw and tried to ignore it, hobbling to the door.

_Smooth move, Sherlock_ , Max thought, _way to check if the door was unlocked first._

She opened Nathan's door and slipped into the room around the caution tape. She closed the door quietly behind her and looked around. It was almost exactly as she remembered it: the artistic but disturbing photos, the expensive electronics, the massive collection of films. The projector, however, was off this time.

Max had already been through large parts of this room thoroughly in the alternate past...so she started looking in places she didn't examine before. She dropped to the floor and peered underneath the bed, pushing aside a porn magazine and pulling out a set of plastic boxes. The boxes contained only blank photo paper, various art and history books (which looked as if they'd never been read), and some winter clothing.

Next she looked under Nathan's desk and behind his computer: nothing but dust.

_For being so rich and full of himself_ , Nathan's room is surprisingly sparse, Max thought, _he must have more stuff than this. His family has a house nearby...I wonder how much he keeps there and how often he goes back. Maybe I should've asked Victoria…_

Max pulled Nathan's desk chair over to the closet, climbed onto the chair, and opened the cupboard above the closet: attached to the inside of the doors were a few pictures of Victoria, a picture of Mr. Jefferson ( _that's just weird_ , Max thought), and Vortex Club posters, including an End of the World Party poster. The cupboard itself contained a box of electronics and a stack of magazines that Max did not want to take a closer look at.

As Max went to close the cupboard doors, she looked again at the Vortex Club posters.

_Maybe it's a all just a coincidence, but it is so strange that we found so many references to the tornado with the Prescotts and the Vortex Club. The Dark Room was a Prescott storm bunker, Nathan said that a storm was coming, there was the "End of the World" party...which occurred just before the storm. Even the Vortex Club's_ name _seems related...but maybe I'm just reading too much into it._

Max stepped down from the chair and reached into the closet, moving a sweater at the bottom; a small safe sat on the closet floor, open.

_Aha_ , Max thought.

She peered in but the safe was empty. She looked at the dial on the outside: currently resting at 57.

_I wonder if this is where he kept his gun_ , Max thought, _there's nothing in it now and I doubt they let him come back to his room after he shot Chloe. Then again maybe his dad...or Victoria or someone else...removed whatever might have been left in here._

Max searched through Nathan's drawers next but found nothing new.

_That pretty much does it...just one more spot to check_ , she thought, walking over to the couch and lifting up one of the cushions, _I used to find all kinds of interesting things in my couch...and in Chloe's._

She lifted the second cushion and took a step back.

_Whoa_ , Max thought.

She leaned over and counted thirteen bullets and a Blackwell room key.

_Definitely not what I expected to find...I can't imagine Nathan keeping his bullets in his couch_ , Max thought, _and I wonder if that's the key that Victoria lost...how did_ that _get here?_

Max carefully replaced the couch cushions and then pulled the couch out, finding Nathan's plastic bag with his drug phone and notes. She took the code paper from the bag and left the rest.

She pushed the couch back before sneaking out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. She stood for a moment in the hallway.

_Alright, this could be big...think this through. It seems like Nathan left a bunch of his bullets in his room...underneath his couch cushion. Something seems wrong about that. Did someone else take them out of the gun? That seems way more plausible. And who would be the most likely culprit for bullet-removing shenanigans, particularly since this could have had a direct effect on what happened to Chloe? Max Caulfield. Only problem? Not possible. At least...I think it shouldn't be possible. I mean, if I'd gone back to do something, it would be non-time travel Max here right now...not_ me. _Right? This is so fucking confusing...I still don't know everything that's going on here and Brooke and Warren were right: some puzzle pieces may be missing._

Images of the funeral vision floated into Max's head.

_Then there's the other possibility_ , Max thought, tensing, _maybe, somehow, this is something that_ hasn't _been done yet...something that I need to do. Impossible? Yeah, but rewinding time should also be impossible. So what do I do? I can't risk losing Chloe...not again. I decided to let her go once and now that she's back, I'm never doing that again. And that means I need to be ready for the possibility that I need to do something about this._

Max nodded to herself, determination flooding through her. She stepped away from Nathan's door and went back out to the front. Daniel was waiting by the door, nervously peering outside.

"Hey Daniel," Max said. He jumped slightly.

"Hi Max," he said, seeming to relax, "did you find what you were looking for?"

Max thought quickly, recalling things she'd discovered during the erased past.

"Yeah," she said, "it's a lot more complicated than I thought. Nathan really needed help and he wasn't getting it. I found notes from his doctor and his father. It sounds like Nathan's father is awful...and the doctor couldn't get around that. It's no wonder that he's so unstable."

"That's so sad," Daniel said, "even someone like Nathan Prescott should be able to find peace. I must be honest and say that I wasn't thinking that this was a good idea, going into his room. But it sounds like you found answers that you needed."

"Thanks, Daniel," Max said, "I know that I'm way too nosy, but sometimes it really does help."

"Well, Max," Daniel said, "I think that's enough excitement for me today; I'm going to get back to my sketching. See you later!"

"See you later, Daniel," Max said.

She made her way back up to her room.

After stashing Nathan's code sheet in her bag, Max checked her messages. She had a picture from Warren: a selfie of he and Brooke in front of a massive airplane. Max typed back:

**Max** : I like the plane. Bring me back one too.

No new messages from Chloe or anyone else. She scrolled through her old messages, reading the ones she'd missed out on. She found a long text conversation with her parents. Her parents' messages seemed equal parts horrified and disbelieving over Nathan's shooting of Chloe...particularly over the fact that Max had been in the same room. Those were followed by messages of relief once Chloe was out of danger.

She read through texts from Kate, Dana, Joyce, and more. She even had several messages from David.

_It's so strange_ , Max thought, _reading an alternate history I've never experienced...and yet it's still a part of me. When I went back and saved William, the consequences for Chloe were so awful...and at the same time, the consequences for_ me _were so bizarre. I was in the Vortex Club, for fuck's sake!_

Max looked up from her phone. Her thoughts from outside of Nathan's room were still nagging at her. But she couldn't think of anything to do about it. She'd need to wait and gather more information...and she could really use Chloe's help.

Max stared at the haggard pile of photos on her desk and an idea struck her. She pulled her camera out and took a picture of her cluttered couch. She grabbed a pen and wrote the date and time on the bottom of the photo and put it into an unused pocket of her bag. She then grabbed a stack of note paper and a pen, putting those into her bag as well.

_Alright_ , Max thought, _insurance. I'll take a photo at least every day and keep this bag with me at all times. If something goes to shit, I grab a picture, go back to that time, write myself a note, and hold it in my hand. Passing notes to my past self; seems legit to me._

She also grabbed one of the photos from the previous day and wrote the date, placing that one with the other. Having this backup plan eased her anxiety...at least a little.

Then, with nothing else to do, Max shuffled over to her desk and pulled out a folder. She needed to finally catch up on what she'd been neglecting for days (but which felt like months): homework. Max sighed. With murder and psychopaths and time travel, it was sometimes easy to forget that she actually had an academic side of her life to work on.

She opened the folder and began.

**. . . . .**

A couple of hours and several assignments later, Max's phone buzzed.

Max almost toppled out of her chair to grab the phone.

**Chloe** : chloe price back in action  
 **Max** : Yay! (^_^)  
 **Chloe** : uggggggggggggggggggggh oh fine ill let you get away with that  
 **Chloe** : u gonna pick my ass up?  
 **Max** : Of course!  
 **Max** : On my way! :D  
 **Chloe** : i will take ur phone away

Max grabbed her bag and rushed to the parking lot. She saw David leaving the main building and waved; he waved back with a smile and a thumbs-up. Chloe must have texted him as well.

She drove back up to the hospital far faster than she left it and found Chloe standing outside the main entrance. It was as if no time had passed at all and no bullets had passed through Chloe. She was leaning against a wall, looking as casually cool as ever.

Max pulled the truck up and Chloe eased her way into the passenger seat, wincing a bit.

"Max the chauffeur," Chloe said, "providing excellent curbside service."

"I expect compensation for this service," Max said, grinning.

"Ah, Max the entrepreneur," Chloe said, "so what will it be? I have about a dollar in cash...um...somewhere...or I could get you some quality weed...or I could take your 18 year old ass to a strip club."

"Ew," Max said, "I was thinking more along the lines of: I get to pick what movie we watch tonight and you don't try to take away my phone."

"Oh Max, never change," Chloe said, "I accept the first one; you always picked great movies. For the second one...you gonna stop sending emojis?"

"Can't promise that," Max said.

"You drive a hard bargain," Chloe said, "okay, I'll trade grudging acceptance of your bad texting habits for letting me pick out one outfit for you."

"What's wrong with my outfits?" Max said.

"Nothing, if you want to be a generic hipster," Chloe said, "but you need something other than jeans and t-shirts. Find your inner punk-rock girl!"

"Hey! I like my jeans and t-shirts!" Max said, "...but fine, I'll take that deal."

"Awesomesauce," Chloe said, "now let's get out of here."

Max swung the truck out of the hospital lot and started towards Chloe's house.

Chloe sat silently for a few minutes and then stared over at Max.

Max smiled and said, "what?"

"It's so weird," Chloe said, "this has been the best worst week of my life. On one hand, I get shot and find out that...Rachel's dead."

Max reached over and put a hand on Chloe's shoulder.

"But on the other hand," Chloe continued, "her murderers get caught, turns out that step-douche is a decent guy, and when I wake up, the first thing I see is your face. Now that was a perfect moment."

_Awww Chloe_ , Max thought, _who would have thought you could be so sentimental._

Chloe continued, "it'd been so long..."

"Chloe, I'm still so sorry that I didn't contact you sooner. I…," Max said.

"Max!" Chloe cut her off, "seriously, I forbid you from bringing that up any more. Forbidden!"

She punched Max in the shoulder lightly and grinned. Max smiled.

Chloe's smile faded and she said, "Max, I don't think I've mentioned this yet but I...I haven't felt this happy in years. It means so much to have you back. You sat there with me for hours and hours and hours. And you didn't judge me or put me down. Kinda felt like I had the world's most adorable groupie."

_Past Max, you rock_ , Max thought.

Max said, "Aww, thanks Chloe. Does that mean I can finally get your autograph?"

"Oh sure," Chloe said, "let me find a Sharpie and I'll sign my name on your chest."

"You're such a dork," Max said.

"Guilty as charged," Chloe said, "and of course the other thing that's weird as shit? You're driving my truck. I've never been a passenger in my own truck."

"I'm growing to like it," Max said, "it has it's own charm; it's like a vehicular version of my camera. Classic and analog. It's from a different era and it's a work of art, in its own way."

Chloe rolled her eyes and Max laughed.

**. . . . .**

They arrived at Chloe's house and hopped out of the truck, Chloe taking it slow.

Max remembered that, in this timeline, she hadn't been here yet and said, "looks almost like it did five years ago."

Chloe said, "yep, home sweet home."

Max noticed the heavy sarcasm with which Chloe said "sweet"...but at least she didn't say it was shit this time.

They entered the house and Chloe called out, "yo, anyone here?"

No response.

"I saw David up at Blackwell before I came to get you," Max said.

"And mom must still be at the Two Whales," Chloe said, "not going to complain; we'll see plenty of them."

Max followed Chloe up to the cluttered and familiar bedroom.

"Like I said before, my room looks...a little different from the last time you saw it," Chloe said.

"Definitely," Max said, looking around, "but it seems to fit you well. Seems like as good a place as any to chill out."

"This really wasn't my chill out zone," Chloe said, "but hey, maybe it can be again."

"What do you mean?" Max asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Well, David was the step-fuhrer here. Fucking...all up in my business all the time. Never any peace. Maybe that side of him will come back...I sure as shit hope not. If he keeps behaving the way he has been the last few days, maybe this house will actually become way less of a hell hole," Chloe said.

"Anyways," she continued, turning and giving Max a lopsided smile, "tomorrow I'm taking you to my hideout. It's hella awesome."

"I can't wait to see it," Max said.

Chloe laid down on the bed, hands behind her head. She said, "Haven't been this happy to be home in a long time. Never think of how great your own bed is until you haven't slept in it for days."

Max shrugged her bag off of her shoulders and put it by the closet, taking out her camera before joining Chloe on the bed. She held up the camera and Chloe edged over, touching her head to Max's. Max took the photo and placed it beside the bed. She had a feeling that Max and Chloe selfies would become an increasingly large part of her work.

She laid back on the bed, placing her head against Chloe's.

_This is one of those moments I wish I could freeze forever_ , Max thought as she listened to Chloe's breathing, _of course now we have a whole future of these moments._

Max smiled and absentmindedly stroked Chloe's arm with her hand.

"Umm...Max?" Chloe said.

Max jerked her hand back.

_Oh shit, too soon too soon_ , Max thought. She rewound a few moments.

_Wait...maybe I'm overreacting_ , Max thought as time held steady around her, _why don't I see what happens?_

Max let time continue and gently stroked Chloe's arm again, intentionally this time.

"Umm...Max?" Chloe said.

Max jerked her hand back and said, "oops, sorry, didn't know I was doing that."

Chloe turned to face Max, humor and curiosity playing across her face.

"Dude, I don't think I'm the only one with a case of dramatic life change this week," Chloe said, "for a shy hipster schoolgirl, you sure give off a lot of badass vibes. Quick with the one-liners? Volunteering to drive my truck? And then some other surprises too." She looked down at her arm.

Before Chloe could dig deeper into that, Max decided to give her something juicier to chew on.

"Ha, no kidding," Max said, "today I broke into Nathan's room at Blackwell to snoop around."

"What?!" Chloe said, bolting up and standing on the bed above Max, "how could you not have mentioned this before?"

Max smiled and shrugged, "I was looking for the right time."

"Holy shit, Max," Chloe said, grinning wildly, "that is so awesome. You are so hella badass."

Chloe grabbed Max's arm and pulled her up.

"So, Maxwell Smart," Chloe said, "what did you find? Guns? Secret documents? Money? Super drugs?"

"Er, none of those things actually," Max said, "I went in there to try to find out more about...well...that." Max pointed at Chloe's injured side, "you know, why things went down the way they did."

"Wow Max...that's...really sweet," Chloe said. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyebrows raised.

Max swayed slightly, a timid half smile on her face.

"So what _did_ you find?" Chloe asked. She was practically bouncing on the bed.

Max's smile disappeared and she thought, _for now, I'd better give her the same line I gave Daniel. I'll tell her what I_ actually _found once I get the chance to explain everything else._

"I found out that Nathan was really disturbed," Max said, "he was getting treatment for a while but apparently his dad is a massive asshole. The doctor said he couldn't treat Nathan with the dad being such a jerk," Max said.

"Damn," Chloe said, "that's fucked up."

"Yeah," Max said.

"But holy shit, Max," Chloe said, grinning once again, "you actually busted into King Douchebag's dorm room. Next time you do something like this, you have to promise to bring me. Partners in crime!"

_And partners in time_ , Max thought, cringing internally.

Max smiled and said, "well duh. Now that you're not tied to a hospital bed, these pirates are _both_ back in action."

"Wow, I'm lovin' this badassness Max; you're on fire! Three days of catching up with you and you still keep surprising me. Now I really want to test you out, Mad Max. Maybe I can work on your new outfit right now," Chloe said, turning towards the closet.

"Or maybe...," she said, turning back to Max with an impish look, "How about this: I dare you to kiss me."

"What?" Max said before she could think.

"I double dare you. Kiss me now."

_Okay!_ Max thought.

Max reached up, put one hand on Chloe's shoulder, the other on her neck, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed Chloe.

Chloe backed away and Max stood with a small smile.

"Damn Max, you really are hardcore," Chloe said, sounding breathless.

_Oh man, that was great_ , Max thought. She almost rewound but stopped.

_As awesome as it would be to repeat that over and over_ , Max thought, _it seems kind of creepy...and it doesn't seem fair to Chloe._

Chloe seemed to compose herself and said, "I'd better tell the Blackwell boys that you're off the market! Particularly after you were romancing my arm too."

"Again, you are such a dork," Max said.

Chloe laid back down on the bed, looking up at Max.

_Hmm_ , Max thought, _I think I have one Chloe-ism figured out: I'm willing to bet that the kiss dare is meant to figure out if I'm at all interested. Mission accomplished, it would seem._

"Besides," Max said, crossing her arms and peering down at Chloe, "you're the one who made the dare. Guilty people often make the first move."

"Says the arm-stroker," Chloe said.

"Touche," Max said.

"I'll just have to keep my guard up against your attempts to seduce me," Chloe said.

"Me?" Max said.

"Yup," Chloe said, "it's the cute quiet ones you've got to watch for. They come out of nowhere and...boom! Suddenly they're in your pants."

"Oh, cute am I? Now who's attempting to seduce?" Max said, blushing slightly.

"Touche," Chloe said.

They both started laughing. Only a little at first but each time they looked at one another, they laughed even more. Back and forth they laughed harder and harder. Max doubled over and fell to the ground and Chloe rolled over, clutching her wounded side but still howling with laughter.

_I haven't seen Chloe laugh this hard since we were kids_ , Max thought, finally gaining control and sitting up. She reached over and grabbed her camera, snapping a picture of Chloe, still giggling uncontrollably on the bed.

Max looked at the photo and her smile quickly vanished. The way that Chloe was laying there in the photo...her wrists together...and her expression: Max knew it was one of joy but, at this angle, it almost looked like one of pain. Max suddenly remembered bright lights, the feel of the hard ground on her side, the snapping of Mr. Jefferson's camera. She tore the photo of Chloe in half and sat back, rubbing her wrists. She felt like she could barely breathe.

Chloe was crying tears of laughter but her face tensed as soon as she looked up at Max. She tumbled out of bed and over to Max, placing her hands gently on Max's shoulders.

"Max," Chloe said, "what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," Max said, forcing herself to stop rubbing her wrists, "I took a picture and it reminded me of...bad memories."

"Do...do you want to talk about it?" Chloe said.

Max took a deep breath, steadying herself.

"No," Max said, "not right now. I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Chloe said, "look, you can tell me about any shit, okay? You sat by my hospitalized ass for days. You'd better damn well know that I'm going to be by your side for anything."

"I know," Max said, putting her hand on Chloe's, "I do. I promise I'll let you in on everything. Really, I just had a moment there. Good thing too...if you would've kept laughing like that, I probably would've had to truck you back to the hospital."

Max chuckled and Chloe smiled. But Max could still see concern burning in Chloe's eyes.

"I trust you, Maxster," Chloe said, "just remember that I'm here for you."

Max nodded.

"Also," Chloe said, humor creeping back into her eyes, "you're stroking my arm again."

"Shit," Max said, jerking her hand back.

Chloe laughed and a moment later, they heard the front door open and close, followed by Joyce's voice, "Chloe! Get down here so I can give you a hug. You too Max!"

Chloe and Max made goofy faces at one another. They got up and Chloe said, "you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Max said, smiling, "I'm good now."

Chloe held Max's shoulders for a moment before smiling and leaving the room. Max made to follow but paused, looking back at the torn photo on the floor.

_I guess I can't expect to go through getting drugged and photographed by a psychopath...and nearly murdered...without some repercussions_ , Max thought, _I've been going and going and going without time to process all of this. I need to tell Chloe about all of this. I need someone to help me out with this._

She considered rewinding, going back so that Chloe wouldn't see her like that, vulnerable and panicking. Not for herself, but so that Chloe could just keep laughing.

_No_ , Max said, _I'm not invincible. I have issues and I'm not going to hide that from Chloe. She deserves to know...and I guess I deserve to to have someone who knows._

Max picked up the torn halves of the photo and tossed them into the trash before following Chloe down the stairs.

When Max reached the bottom, Chloe was hugging Joyce.

Joyce said, "Now Chloe, you take care with that injury. Don't do anything crazy and follow the doctor's orders. And you let me know if you need any help."

"Don't worry mom," Chloe said, "I'm responsible now."

Both Joyce and Max rolled their eyes and Chloe grinned.

"Besides," Chloe said, "I have Max to take care of me." Chloe grabbed Max around the shoulders and pulled her close.

"That's good," Joyce said, "but make sure you take good care of Max too."

"Yep," Chloe said, her voice serious, "I will."

Max was pretty sure that her heart melted completely at that.

Joyce smiled and said, "okay now, we're all going to make some dinner. David will be home soon and is going to fire up the old grill. I'm going to make some sides. You both up for helping out?"

Max enthusiastically accepted. Chloe also accepted...just not in any way that anyone would call enthusiastic.

Joyce directed Max and Chloe to various tasks and, as promised, David arrived a few minutes later.

As they worked, Max thought, _this almost feels like it did five years ago. Chloe and me; Joyce and William. David doesn't joke as much as William did...and he tends to bark orders a bit instead of just asking...but it feels like a real family. Even Chloe and David are laughing together._

When the meal was ready, the four of them sat around the dining room table, eating, talking, and laughing. Joyce loved to tell stories about bizarre customers. Just today, a customer had spoken for two hours straight, to anyone that would listen, about the history of UFOs in Oregon. Joyce said she'd peered into the man's bag and had seen a literal tinfoil hat. At that, Chloe quipped that Joyce and Max shared a penchant for being nosy.

David had a surprising array of Blackwell stories that left Max surprised and amused. On multiple occasions he had apparently teamed up with Samuel to chase squirrels out of the buildings; efforts that involved brooms, spray bottles, and even, according to David, stake-outs to catch particularly stubborn ones.

Max asked a flurry of questions throughout dinner and had to quickly come up with excuses a few times for questions that her past self had already asked. Only once did she get in so deep that she had to rewind.

Later on, as the meal wound down, Joyce said, "Max, I'm so glad that you've come out of your shell so much. You were always such a wallflower, except when you were around Chloe, of course."

"Thanks, Joyce," Max said, "this last week has been...life changing."

"How true," Joyce said.

The meal ended with pie and the whole group cleaned up, despite Joyce and David's insistence that Max and Chloe relax. Chloe was clearly about to take the offer but sighed and got up to help as Max carried plates to the sink.

Once they finished, David and Joyce started towards the stairs; both had to be up early the next morning.

"Good night," David said, "don't stay up too late."

"We'll consider it," Chloe said.

David shook his head but was smiling as he went upstairs.

Joyce turned to them and said, "after you get up tomorrow, you'd better come down to the Two Whales."

"Oh, we definitely will," Max said, "I have so missed those amazing breakfasts."

Joyce smiled and said, "see you tomorrow morning then. Good night!"

"Good night," Max and Chloe said, making their way to the living room as Joyce went upstairs.

Chloe fell onto the couch, stretching out.

"Alright, Max," Chloe said, "I agreed that you could choose the movie; what will it be?"

Max knelt down in front of the TV and opened the cabinets to examine the stacks of DVDs. There were plenty to choose from, even if they were a bit more mainstream than much of what Max had been watching in recent years:

Back to the Future; _ha_ , Max thought, _too soon...and we'll be seeing it at the drive-in!_

Total Recall; _get your ahss to Maahs._

Jaws; _hell no._

The Shining; _hmm, might be good for creating some cuddling opportunities_ , Max thought, glancing over at Chloe, _not sure I want to push that too soon though...and wait, where the hell did_ that _thought even come from? 'Cuddling opportunities?'...who am I and what did I do with Max Caulfield?_

Groundhog Day; _God, no...way too real for me._

The Fifth Element; _excellent movie, maybe this one..._

Hot Fuzz; _oh this is the best movie ever...I wonder if Warren has seen_ this. _Maybe I could spring a surprise movie recommendation on_ him _for once._

Die Hard; _the perfect Christmas movie._

Blade Runner; _wowser...the last time I saw this was_ not _a happy occasion._

_Well_ , Max thought, _absent The Final Fantasy: Spirits Within, I'm thinking...Blade Runner. It's time to start making some new memories._

"Let's watch Blade Runner," Max said.

"Ooh, that sounds awesome," Chloe said, "better watch out; I might be a punk replicant!"

"You'd better not be," Max said, putting the DVD in, "I'd really like my best friend to be around for a long time."

Max walked back to the couch and stood with a hand on her hip, staring down at couch-hogging Chloe.

"What?" Chloe said with a faux-innocent expression.

"This particular pirate ship is supposed to be big enough for two," Max said.

"I've commandeered it for myself," Chloe said, sticking her tongue out.

"If you weren't bandaged up, you would so be getting a tickle attack right now," Max said.

"Ouch," Chloe said, "that's still a hella scary threat. Alright, I bow to your request."

Chloe swung her legs off the couch.

Max dropped to the couch and Chloe scooted closer. Max pretended not to notice but couldn't help smiling. She started the movie.

As they watched, they kept a rolling commentary going that had them both laughing throughout. Max hadn't enjoyed watching a movie this much in years; everything seemed so much better with Chloe.

After the movie finished, Chloe yawned loudly and stretched.

"I love that movie. Good choice," Chloe said, "and now I have to go change my bandage. Getting shot has some downsides."

"You don't say," Max said, "do you need any help?"

"No, I got this," Chloe said, standing up, "but if I start screaming or I don't come out of the bathroom for, like, twenty minutes, maybe come check to make sure I didn't fuck myself over."

Chloe ruffled Max's hair and went upstairs.

Max sat for a moment, relaxing. _This is so cool...hanging with Chloe without having to worry about a death tornado or Nathan...or Jefferson_ , Max thought. Thoughts of the funeral dream and the mysterious pile of bullets floated into Max's head but she pushed them away. _Now is a time to relax_ , Max thought, _I'll worry about that stuff tomorrow after I tell Chloe about everything that's happened._ That thought brought on a pang of nervousness...but also excitement. She didn't like keeping Chloe in the dark and was definitely looking forward to having her partner in time again.

Max stood up, turned off the TV, and went upstairs. She walked over to the closed bathroom door and could hear Chloe's voice.

"Fuck," Chloe whispered, "I swear I'm going to come to your jail cell and shoot _you_ in the side, Nathan Prescott. Or in the head. Fucking asshole. Ouch! Do they use fucking super glue for these bandages? Ow! Shit, that stuff stings."

Max winced but then smiled.

_Way better to hear Chloe swear up and down about a pesky bandage than to not hear her at all_ , Max thought and crept away from the door and into Chloe's room.

She put on her pajamas and opened the window. A cool breeze drifted in and helped make the room feel less stuffy. The weather hadn't switched yet from summer-like warmth to real autumn.

_That's when I'll start really exercising my camera_ , Max thought, _although by then I'll definitely need to get some more instant film, particularly with my daily 'emergency' photos added to my load._

She heard heavy footsteps outside and Chloe came into the room.

"Ouch," Chloe said, "Max, never get shot. It sucks ass."

"I'll try my best," Max said, "how did it go?" She pointed to Chloe's side.

"Great. Amazing," Chloe said, "I'm halfway to getting a medical degree. Doctor Price, violently rip this bandage off of this patient, stat!"

Chloe pulled her shirt off and twisted to point the bandage towards Max. It was a bit haphazard but seemed to be decent, in Max's unprofessional judgment.

"Well, Doctor Price," Max said, "looks like you've saved another life."

"Thank you, Doctor Caulfield," Chloe said, bowing. She took off her pants and threw them in the general direction of where her shirt had landed. Max glanced over at her own pile of clothes next to her bag, folded and stacked, and smiled.

Max looked back towards Chloe and then quickly turned around, saying, "oops, sorry." Chloe was in the midst of removing her undergarments.

"Ha," Chloe said, "you're adorable."

Max stared intently at the globe on the bookcase by Chloe's bed.

_Someday_ , Max thought, _Chloe and I are going to explore the world and have the adventures we always dreamed of._

"Alright, Max," Chloe said, "you can stop staring at the wall. I have clothes on now."

Max turned around and Chloe was smiling. Max offered a small smile.

"Sorry," Max said, "I thought it would be super awkward to stare at you while you changed."

"Yeah, when you put it that way, it does," Chloe said, "I don't care though. Just no pictures." She winked.

"I'm not that kind of photographer," Max said, crossing her arms but smiling.

"Ah, speaking of which," Chloe said, "I know it was your birthday last month."

She turned around and grabbed an old analog camera from her shelf; Max already knew it well, even though she was still carrying her own camera, undamaged in this timeline.

"This was my real father's camera," Chloe said, patting it, "I know you already have one but I want you to know that this one is here for you to use too. Whenever you want. And you can take it whenever you want."

"Wow, Chloe," Max said, "that's so cool you remembered my birthday. But I can't take this from you."

"Of course you can," Chloe said, "I never use it and my dad would be much happier knowing that it would get used awesomely. And in your hands, it hella will. Besides, you mentioned before that these old cameras are your favorite. And that they're hard to find. So here you go."

"I...thank you Chloe," Max said, "this camera is so sweet."

Chloe walked over and stretched by the bed.

"Now it's time to sleep," Chloe said, "these painkillers are wrecking my mojo."

"One photo?" Max said.

"Hell yeah," Chloe said.

Max held up the camera and snapped a picture of her and Chloe. Max pulled it from the camera and shook it.

She held it up and Chloe snagged it, saying, "I get it though."

Max chuckled and said, "of course."

Chloe crawled onto the bed and lay on her back.

"Just turn out the light when you're done," she said.

Max examined William's old camera for a moment and then walked over to the globe.  
 _Remember what you were thinking earlier_ , Max thought as she snapped a picture of the globe, _exploring and adventures; that's what's in our future._

Max carefully set the camera down next to her old one, turned off the light, and fell into bed next to the already-sleeping Chloe.

**. . . . .**

Max was having a dream about her two cameras arguing over which would be better. She was trying to get them each to take a picture of a ghostly doe but they were demanding waffles in exchange. Chloe appeared and said that taking off her clothes would make everything better; and started to do so. Max hid behind Rick Deckard, who was hunting the cameras...and then...

A bright light. Deckard, the half-dressed Chloe, the doe, and the arguing cameras were gone.

Max felt awake. A gentle breeze blew across her skin and a scene appeared around her. The group of people in black suits and dresses, the sunlight streaming through the trees, the Arcadia Bay Cemetery arch.

_This again?_ Max thought.

She looked down and saw that she was wearing the black dress with her doe necklace again. It was definitely the same dream...or vision. She could see her surroundings more clearly this time...but everything was still out of focus.

Again, she followed along with the people around her. This time, she could see the people nearest to her well enough to positively identify them: Dana to her left, Warren in front of her, and definitely Principal Wells in front of him. She still couldn't tell who the couple out in front was...but she could now see a young woman in front of Principal Wells and if the hair was any indication, it was Kate.

_This is too real to be a dream_ , Max thought, _but it's nothing like the visions. In the tornado vision, everything was in focus. Every sight and sound was clear._

Sound...something else she hadn't noticed before. She could barely hear the footsteps around her. It was as if the volume of the world had been turned down to a minimum.

She continued following the crowd and, with a sinking feeling, realized the obvious thing that was missing. There was no sign of blue hair among the mourners. Max imagined that if she were able to get up further or see clearer, she would find that the couple in the distance was Joyce and David.

_What does this mean?_ Max thought, _Chloe is fine. Am I seeing an alternate reality? The future? God I hope not; please let this not be the future._

As they arrived at the casket, Max had an idea. She searched for her phone. With her vision fuzzy and the dress unfamiliar, it took a few moments to find it in a pocket. She could just make out the date on the screen: Friday, October 11th...two days in the past.

The scene began to fade. Everything turned to white and it was gone.


	4. Deja Vu

Max bolted upright.

_The funeral date_ , Max thought immediately, _that was two days ago. It's not a vision of the future...it's a vision...or something...of an alternate past. Okay, just keep it cool. Even if I do need to do something about this, I have the emergency photos to send messages back. I just need to keep my eyes and ears open and get more information._

Max breathed deeply and calmed herself, glancing around. Morning sunlight streamed through Chloe's bedroom windows. Chloe was still asleep, an uncharacteristically serene expression on her face.

Max rolled over to grab her phone from beside the bed and heard Chloe mumble something incomprehensible.

It was just after 9:30. Both Joyce and David were working today; they'd both taken time off to be with Chloe during the first couple of days after the incident. It made Max angry that they couldn't take more time off for free, given the circumstances...but Joyce and David had seemed to accept it.

Max grabbed William's old camera and rolled back over, pointing it at herself.

_Another moment to always remember_ , Max thought.

Suddenly Chloe was up next to her.

"Photobomb!" Chloe said.

Max laughed and said, "photo hog."

She took the picture.

As Chloe rolled out of bed, Max took another photo, this time of the flag-covered window behind her. Once it printed, she grabbed a pen from her bag and wrote the time and date on the bottom before stuffing the photo into the emergency pocket.

"Why've you been doing that with some of them?" Chloe asked.

"Er...it's a side-project I'm doing," Max said, "I promise I'll tell you more about it later."

"Okay, Mystery Max," Chloe said, rummaging through a drawer.

_Today's the day_ , Max thought, nervousness fluttering in her stomach, _it's time to tell Chloe about my powers. And what better way to do it than over a Two Whales breakfast? Hopefully the place isn't too crowded; I don't want to be overheard telling Chloe about_ this.

Chloe got dressed as Max rolled out of bed and stretched. Grabbing some clothes from beside her bag, Max changed quickly into jeans and a t-shirt.

"I'm hella hungry," Chloe said, "are you ready for an epic breakfast?"

"Hell yeah I am," Max said, pulling on her hoodie.

A few minutes later, they stepped out of Chloe's house.

"Need me to drive?" Max said.

"I'm fine to drive, Mad Max," Chloe said, snatching the keys from Max.

"Did you take your painkillers this morning?" Max asked.

"Yup," Chloe said.

"Then I'm driving," Max said, snatching the keys back.

"Okay fine, Doctor Max," Chloe said, getting into the passenger seat.

**. . . . .**

They arrived at the Two Whales a few minutes later and parked the truck. Max noticed Frank's RV in the lot next door but couldn't see any sign of Frank or Pompidou.

 _I bet Frank's not doing so well; he was very close to Rachel, even closer than Chloe was_ , Max thought.

Chloe noticed where Max was looking and said, "ugh, that's where Frank lives. I almost forgot that I owe him a shit ton of money."

_Oh right_ , Max thought, _I completely forgot about that. Hopefully that doesn't complicate things._

Max then remembered that she _shouldn't_ know about that and asked, "what do you owe him money for?"

"I borrowed it to get my truck fixed," Chloe said, her voice strained, "it was for Rachel and I to blow this town. Back when that was priority uno."

"Doesn't look like the home of someone who'd have a ton of cash around," Max said, still feigning ignorance.

"No, but he's got it," Chloe said, "if you want to get high in Arcadia Bay, Frank is your man. That's why he's rolling in cash. Although I bet his income took a big hit this week. Fucking Nathan Prescott was his biggest cash cow."

They were nearly at Two Whales door when Chloe paused, looking back over at Frank's RV.

"I wonder where he is," Chloe said, "usually he's sitting outside with that mangy mutt of his."

They walked into the diner and Max guided them to the booth second from the end. The place wasn't particularly crowded and they had almost the entire half of the diner to themselves.

_Good_ , Max said, _what I have to tell Chloe is not for public broadcast._

They sat down and Joyce came over.

"Well, look who finally rolled out of bed," Joyce said, pouring cups of coffee for both of them, "it is so good to see both of you in here again."

"Just like old times," Max said.

"Just like old times," Joyce repeated, "so what'll it be?"

"The last great waffle I had was from here," Max said, "so a famous Two Whales waffle, please."

_I'm not lying_ , Max thought, _the last great waffle I had_ was _from here...it was just that I had it a few days ago...subjectively speaking._

"How 'bout you, Chloe," Joyce said.

"Bacon omelette," Chloe said.

"Coming right up," Joyce said.

"Thanks, mom," Chloe said.

Joyce smiled and called out the order to the cook.

"Okay, Max," Chloe said, "today I'm taking you out to my hideout. We can hang there for a while then go back to my place...just thrash our way through the day."

"Sounds great, Chloe," Max said, "although I really should take a bit of time this evening to actually do some schoolwork. I'd love to spend all of my time chilling with you but I want to make sure I keep my scholarship."

Chloe opened her mouth but paused. Max raised her eyebrows.

Chloe shook her head, smiling, and said, "I guess that will just give me an excuse to come crash your schoolgirl study times. Rock out your whole dorm!"

"Chloe…," Max said.

"I know I know," Chloe said, "don't worry, I won't fuck up your scholarship. But don't expect me not to show up."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Max said, "and you don't worry either. School's important, but I'm always going to be a call or a text away. Always."

Chloe smiled.

Joyce came over with their food. She put the waffle down in front of Max.

"Here you go, Max, you'll love this," Joyce said.

"Can't wait," Max said, picking up her fork.

"And for the blue-haired devil," Joyce said with a smile.

"Why thank you, mom," Chloe said before digging in.

Joyce stood for a moment and looked over at Max.

"I still can't believe you're a woman now, Max," Joyce said, "when I look at pictures of Chloe and you, it seems like five years ago was yesterday. And over the last few days...it's just amazing how much you've grown up. And like I said before, you've been a good influence on this one." She gestured at Chloe, who couldn't speak around the food in her mouth.

"Thanks, Joyce," Max said, "although I think Chloe has been a hella good influence on me too."

Chloe spit out a mouthful of food, laughing, as Joyce rolled her eyes. But Max could see the corners of Joyce's lips twitch into a smile.

"I guess we'll see," Joyce said, walking back to the counter.

"I can't believe you said that," Chloe said, "that was awesome."

Max smiled and took a bite of her waffle.

_Amazing as ever_ , she thought, _I would come here every day if I could...or rewind and eat waffles all day._

She looked over at Chloe, who was already halfway through her omelet.

_And speaking of rewinding_ , she thought, _it's time...can't put this off._

"Um...Chloe?" Max said, "there's something I need to tell you...something hardcore."

"Hmm," Chloe said, "sounds serious."

Nervousness fluttered in Max's stomach but she managed a smile.

"You might call it that," Max said, "and...you're definitely going to think that I'm high. Like, really high."

"Okay, you've got my attention," Chloe said, raising an eyebrow, "talk to me, Max."

"I...I discovered that I can reverse time," Max said.

"Huh?" Chloe said.

"I can reverse time. Like, rewind it. I know it sounds crazy but it's true," Max said.

"You're right, I think you must be super high," Chloe said.

"You know me, Chloe," Max said, "I wouldn't lie about something like this and I also wouldn't be high."

Chloe stared at Max, her fork in the air, a piece of egg dangling from it.

"Max," she finally said, "sorry but this isn't a very funny joke. You've got quite an imagination and you're clearly one hell of a geek but this isn't anime or a video game. People don't have powers like that."

"I do," Max said, "and...I think I can prove it to you."

"This is pretty crazy, Max," Chloe said, starting to eat again, "but if you're actually being serious, that would be pretty fucking amazing."

Max took another bite of the waffle. Even her nervousness couldn't dampen the deliciousness of that waffle.

_It was a lot easier to get Chloe on board when it started snowing_ , Max thought, _but I'll definitely trade having a more difficult time convincing her over nature-breaking bullshit._

"So what do you have up your sleeve to...ah...prove your superpower?" Chloe said.

"Show me what's in your pockets," Max said after a moment.

"What? Why?" Chloe said.

"I'm going to look at everything that's in your pockets and then rewind time, tell you what's in your pockets, and amaze you," Max said.

"This is super weird," Chloe said, but began pulling items out of her pockets.

She laid them out on the table and Max examined them:

A receipt for cigarettes totalling $10.14 from the 8th. _Dazzle her with the numbers_ , Max thought.

A bottle of hand sanitizer. _Huh, somewhat un-Chloe-like. Maybe it's for the wound._

Coins, 86 cents worth. _Didn't get a chance to spend that kingly sum yet, I guess._

A package of Orbit gum, only three pieces left. _Getting ready for another kiss, Chloe?_

A bag with a small brass-looking item in it.

"What's that?" Max asked, pointing to the bag.

"That," Chloe said, "is the bullet that they plucked out of my side. Figured I'd keep it as a memento of nearly getting my ass murdered."

"Hardcore," Max said, eliciting a grin from Chloe.

Max looked up and Chloe said, "okay, what now Super Max?"

Max smiled and rewound.

"...up your sleeve to...ah...prove your superpower?" Chloe said.

"I'm going to tell you exactly what you have in your pockets," Max said.

"I thought you said you had time reversing powers, not x-ray vision. I don't even remember everything I have in my pockets," Chloe said.

"I just used the power," Max said, "I asked you to take everything out of your pockets, looked at all of it, and then came back to just a few moments ago."

"Okay...," Chloe said, "still skeptical, obviously, but I'll go along. What do I have in my pockets?"

"You have a receipt for cigarettes," Max said.

"That would make some sense; you know that I smoke," Chloe said, "but what store was it from?"

"Shit," Max said, "I didn't look at that. But it was for $10.14 and you bought them on the 8th."

"Okay," Chloe said, "maybe I'll let that slide if you're right about that. What else?"

"A bottle of hand sanitizer," Max said.

"I definitely have that," Chloe said, her eyes widening.

"86 cents worth of coins and a some Orbit gum, three pieces left," Max said.

"Living large in Arcadia Bay. Anything else?" Chloe asked.

"Yep," Max said, "a small bag with the bullet that they took out of you."

Chloe's eyes widened again and she said, "okay, let's see."

She took the items out of her pocket and looked through them, particularly the receipt and change.

Chloe looked up at Max, her mouth open and eyes wide, and sat back.

"Wow Max," she said, "that's...pretty impressive. I've got chills."

Then she leaned forward again.

"But wait," Chloe continued, "I'm not sold on this. It's hella insane that you knew all of that. But you could have seen me put these things in my pockets this morning...maybe you were staring at my ass."  
Max rolled her eyes and took another bite of her waffle. She felt a little more confident now.

"Then I'll do something else," Max said, "over the next couple of minutes or so, I'll look at what goes on around us and then I'll rewind and predict the future for you."

_Definitely feeling the deja vu here_ , Max thought, _although it's nice to have done this once already; feels a bit like I'm going through a play that I've practiced._

"Okay, Max. I suppose that would be pretty convincing," Chloe said.

Max leaned back and watched around her. She'd have to identify a few key things to repeat back to Chloe. For a few moments, nothing of note happened. Then…

A man burst into the diner on the far end and stomped over to another man sitting at the counter.

"Hey!" he said, "you parked in my spot again! I told you not to park in my spot! What the fuck, man?"

The other man mumbled a response but before the first man could respond, Joyce had stepped out.

"Take it outside, gentlemen," Joyce said.

"But he…," started the first man.

"I don't care," Joyce said, "if you have a quarrel, take it outside. Otherwise just sit down and be peaceable."

The first man grumbled and walked out.

"Nice one, mom," Chloe said.

_Awesome_ , Max said, _there's one thing._

Max looked outside and saw Courtney and Taylor walking on the other side of the street.

_No Victoria?_ , Max thought, _must be a vacation from Victoria day._

As she watched, a seagull descended and landed right on Taylor's head. Taylor freaked out, ducking down and swatting at her head. The bird flew away and Courtney collapsed to the ground, laughing. Taylor stormed away, fuming. Chloe, watching the debacle, laughed quietly.

"That was hilarious," Chloe said, "always nice to see Blackwell's elite get the shit."

_There's number two_ , Max thought.

Behind Chloe in the parking lot, Max saw Frank and Pompidou leave the RV and walk across the street.

_Can't use that one_ , Max thought, _Chloe doesn't know that I know what they look like...and I'm not quite ready to tell her about what happened before._

But then Max's attention was drawn to one of the customers at the counter. He was tossing a donut in the air as he spoke to the man next to him. She had no idea why he was doing it...but she continued watching as he tossed it higher and higher. Chloe turned to see what Max was looking at and said, "this can only end with hilarity."

When the donut reached the height of the spinning fan above, it was caught by a blade and flung over to the jukebox. It landed and the jukebox began playing a country tune.

The donut-tosser looked up, confused, and Chloe laughed.

"Well, Max," Chloe said, "I'm guessing you're going to rewind time now and amaze me?"

"Yep," Max said.

Max rewound, watching the events move backwards around her. Pressure mounted in her head but Max stopped before it could become painful.

"...would be pretty convincing," Chloe said.

"I hope so. I just came back and will now amaze you," Max said and Chloe leaned in, "first, a guy is going to stomp in here accusing that guy at the counter of stealing his parking spot. He's looking for a fight but Joyce breaks it up. Then, outside, Courtney and Taylor from school will walk by and Taylor, the light-haired one, will get a seagull to the head. She freaks out and Courtney falls over laughing."

"Oh man," Chloe said, "you cannot be serious."

Max smiled and continued, "finally, that guy over there in the red shirt is going to start throwing a donut in the air. He throws it higher each time before it hits the fan and gets knocked over to the jukebox, which starts playing a country song."

"Holy shit, Max," Chloe said, "if all of that happens as you said…"

The diner's door flew open and Chloe spun around to watch the parking spot accusation and Joyce's response. When the man left, Chloe turned to Max with wide eyes. Max pointed out the window.

Chloe turned and watched as Taylor experienced her involuntary seagull hat. Chloe laughed and said, "no...fucking...way."

She then turned to look at the man with the donut. He hadn't started throwing it yet. Chloe looked over at Max and Max said, "just wait."

The man began tossing the donut. Chloe watched with an open mouth as the donut went higher and higher and then flew from the fan to the jukebox, starting the music.

Chloe turned back to Max, wide-eyed, and said, "amazeballs...now I'm thinking _I_ must be the one who's high."

"How about one more thing?" Max said.

Chloe nodded.

"Think of something to say," Max said, "a short phrase; and not something I could easily guess. Tell me when you've got it."

Chloe sat for a moment then said, "got it."

Max waited for another moment then said, "tell me the phrase."

Chloe said, "if you don't finish your waffle, I'm hella gonna eat the rest of it."

Max rewound.

"Got it," Chloe said.

"If you don't finish your waffle, I'm hella gonna eat the the rest of it," Max said.

Chloe placed her hands on the table and bowed down, saying, "I pledge allegiance to the Max and the power for which she stands…"

"Now wait, Chloe, this isn't a toy," Max said, feeling deja vu yet again, "I have to be very careful how I use it…"

"Are you kidding?" Chloe said, "this could be the best toy ever. Think about it, you can bang anyone, no strings attached. Rewind time and boom, it's like it never happened."

"You have a one-track mind," Max said.

"Yeah, but it's true! You could make a move on anyone and then just rewind," Chloe said. She paused and continued, "you could make a move on me and I would never know. Maybe you _did_ make a move on me."

"Hey, it was _you_ who dared me to kiss you," Max said.

"And how many times did you rewind that?" Chloe said.

Max blushed and said, "I plead the Fifth."

"You can't do that, not with me," Chloe said, "how many times did that dare happen for you?"

"Er...actually it was just once. I didn't rewind that," Max said.

"Max!" Chloe said, "I feel kinda insulted."

"Honestly, I almost did," Max said, "but I thought it was a little creepy. And...um...wasn't fair...to you."

Max blushed even more and Chloe smiled.

"Max, you really are adorable," Chloe said, "but also totally hardcore. I mean...holy shit. I'm kind of in shock. You can rewind time. That's fucking insane. We have to play with this! Figure it out! Use it!"

"I do need to be careful with this Chloe," Max said, "I, um, tend to get headaches and nosebleeds if I use it too much."

"Shit," Chloe said, her wild expression fading, "that doesn't sound good. But it must be okay to use here and there, right?"

"Yep," Max said, "certainly seems like it."

"Then we have to play!" Chloe said, brightening again, "my hideout will be perfect to test this out. Finish your waffle and then your new sidekick will guide you."

Max finished off her waffle as Chloe gobbled down the remains of her omelet.

"Okay, girl wonder," Max said after her final bite, "show me the way to Chloe's cave."

"Hell yeah, Supergirl," Chloe said, "to the secret Chloe cave it is!"

They waved goodbye to Joyce as they left the diner. Once in the truck, Chloe provided directions and Max drive them to the junkyard.

**. . . . .**

Max pulled the truck to the junkyard entrance and Chloe practically leapt out.

"Okay, Super Max," Chloe said as she bounded into the junkyard, "this would be perfect if I had a gun on me but I think…"

Max was coming around the truck and saw that Chloe had stopped. She was staring over to the left: at caution tape looped around a lonely corner of the junkyard. Max's heart sank.

_How could I have forgotten?_ Max thought, walking quickly over to Chloe.

"Chloe?" Max said.

"I...I didn't...David said they'd found her near a junk pile," Chloe said, "I didn't know it was...this was _our_ place...I never thought..."

Chloe slowly made her way over to the taped-off area and Max followed behind. Images flashed through Max's mind: the hurried drive out here from the Prescott barn, the digging, the horrible smell, Chloe screaming.

Chloe stepped over the caution tape and stood beside the shallow hole in the ground. Max paused outside the tape then climbed over and stood by Chloe.

"She didn't deserve this, Max," Chloe said, "she was so alive. So amazing. She had a way of bringing people together. Helping them out. Knowing what would make them happy. Giving people confidence. I wish you could have met her. She would have loved you."

"I wish I could have met her too," Max said, "from everything you've said and from everything else I've heard about her. She was special."

"She was my angel," Chloe said, "without her I…"

Chloe stopped and Max reached over, grabbing Chloe's hand and holding it firmly. They stood at the edge of Rachel's first lonely grave, tears streaming quietly down Chloe's face.

"Part of me wishes I could have been at her funeral," Chloe said, "but part of me knows that the funeral wouldn't have been how Rachel would have wanted it. She told me one time that if she died early, she wanted her funeral to be a hella awesome party."

"We should visit her," Max said, "I'd like to visit her."

"Yeah," Chloe said, "it's a bit far. But we'll do it, I promise. That's a promise to both you and her."

She paused, still staring down at the grave before continuing, "there's something I didn't tell you earlier...I got a letter from her parents. I read it while you were out with Kate. It was...they said some of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me. Dude, I bawled like a baby for most of the time you were out."

Max held Chloe's hand tighter and pulled her into a hug.

"At least they know what happened," Chloe said over Max's shoulder, "at least we all do. I still...if Nathan hadn't shot me…"

"You getting shot brought justice for Rachel...and for Kate and many others," Max said, stepping back.

"I still wish I'd been able to bring justice another way," Chloe said, staring into the distance, her voice hard, "if I would've known...I would've grabbed a gun and Nathan and Jefferson would be the ones in the ground."

Chloe looked at Max. Max remembered that fire in Chloe's eyes. The fire that drove her headlong into a hunt for Nathan.

"Any way you could rewind to before I got shot and let me know?" Chloe asked.

Before Max could answer, Chloe said, "no, I guess not, otherwise you would've stopped me from getting shot at all. Sorry Max, this was a lot of shit to go through. I have you, and that's what's important now."

Max paused.

_I'm going to need to tell her eventually. I can't keep this to myself. The longer I wait, the worse it will be._

"Chloe," Max said, "there's...more that you need to know."

"More superpowers?" Chloe said, managing a tiny smile, "teleportation? Mind control?"

Max also managed a small smile and said, "no, more like an alternate history lesson."

Chloe raised an eyebrow.

Max said, "we should probably sit down somewhere."

"Okay," Chloe said, "come on, I have the perfect spot."

Chloe walked away and Max started to follow but paused for a moment. She plucked a flower from a bush at the edge of the clearing and returned to the hole in the ground, gently laying it at the edge. She turned and saw Chloe peering at her from around the edge of the nearby junked bus. Chloe continued on before Max could read her expression.

Max followed and caught up with Chloe as they reached the shed.

"Welcome to my lair," Chloe said, "have a seat and make yourself comfortable."

Max sat down on one of the makeshift benches.

Chloe grabbed a beer and said, "want one?"

"Yuck," Max said.

"You are so cute," Chloe said, sitting on the other bench, "if you don't mind, I'm having one. I feel like I'm going to need it."

"Yeah...this is pretty heavy stuff," Max said. Butterflies were fluttering in her stomach again; Max jokingly wondered to herself if they were blue. The time travel power was one thing; this was something else entirely.

Max let out a long breath.

"Sounds like shit's about to get real," Chloe said.

Max nodded and said, "this whole thing started on Monday."


	5. The Erased Story

"This whole thing started on Monday," Max said.

"When Nathan shot me?" Chloe said.

"Actually about ten minutes or so before that," Max said.

Chloe leaned forward.

"I had a vision," Max said, "a fucking terrifying vision: a huge tornado was about to destroy Arcadia Bay. I was up by the lighthouse and it felt like I was really there, watching as the tornado moved towards the town. I could feel the rain and the wind; it was insane."

"Shit," Chloe said, taking a long sip from her bottle, her eyes glued on Max.

"Then I came out of it and I was still sitting in Jefferson's class in the middle of what I'd later realize was a creepy-ass lecture," Max said.

"Go on," Chloe said.

"That vision was the whole reason that I was in the bathroom when you got shot. I went there to throw some water on my face and to...to tear up the photo I was going to enter into a photo contest...the 'Everyday Heroes' contest," Max said.

"What? Why the fuck would you do that?" Chloe said.

"Yeah, looking back, it was pretty stupid," Max said, "but I was freaking out and...I had no confidence in my photos. I had no confidence in a lot of things, actually. And the funny thing is that the photo I tore up would've won...but I'm getting ahead of myself. Right after tearing up the photo, a blue butterfly flew in through the window. I followed it and took a photo of it. And then right after that, Nathan came in. And then a certain cool-looking blue-haired girl came in...I didn't recognize you at all."

Chloe grinned.

"And then Nathan shot you," Max said.

She paused.

"And you were dead," Max said.

Chloe's grin vanished.

"Oh fuck is this some Sixth Sense shit going on?" Chloe said.

"No no no," Max said, "you're totally alive now. And besides, you've been interacting with doctors and nurses and Joyce and David. Not a Sixth Sense thing."

"Okay fine, Professor...I'll try not to be freaked out by you saying that I was dead," Chloe said. She took another long sip from her bottle.

"That's when I discovered I had the ability to reverse time," Max said, "I reached out without thinking and suddenly everything was moving backwards and I was back in Jefferson's class. I was freaking out, trying to keep cool, and realized that I might be able to save that blue-haired girl."

"Okay, I'm liking where this story is going," Chloe said.

"So I went back to the bathroom and repeated everything from before," Max said, "but this time, when Nathan started threatening you, I smashed the fire alarm. It scared him off...and both of you ran out."

"Wait, what?" Chloe said, "that's not what happened. I hella got shot. I have proof." She gestured at her side.

"Like I said," Max said, "alternate history lesson."

"Shit," Chloe said, "so...what happened? Tell me everything. Wait...if Nathan didn't shoot me, that means he wouldn't get busted. Jefferson wouldn't get busted. No one would know about Rachel…"

Max nodded.

Max continued the story, telling Chloe how they'd only recognized one another when Chloe intervened in the parking lot confrontation between Max and Nathan.

When Max mentioned Warren taking a hit from Nathan, Chloe said, "dude, respect level up."

And when Max mentioned that Chloe had given her William's camera to replace her broken one, Chloe said, "so much for _that_ being a surprise."

"I still love it," Max said, patting Chloe's knee.

Max described their encounter with David and how she'd jumped out of the closet to take the blame for Chloe's weed.

"Wowser," Chloe said, making Max smile, "you took the fall for me? You're awesome. Sorry you had to see the step-douche side of David."

"It was quite a while before I saw his other side," Max said, "actually...he ended up saving my life later." Chloe's eyes widened.

"But at the time," Max continued, "I suspected him of being up to something. He was taking pictures of Blackwell students and harassing them, particularly Kate."

"Really?" Chloe said, "what the fuck?"

"He thought that Kate was involved with the Vortex Club and he was investigating," Max said, "he was barking up the completely wrong tree but I do wonder if he would've gotten to the bottom of things eventually, even without...hmm, I'll get to that later."

Chloe nodded and took another sip of her beer before saying, "also, I feel like I should make some comment about you jumping out of a closet for me."

"...I don't get it," Max said, tilting her head.

"You know, coming out of a closet?" Chloe said.

Max punched Chloe's knee.

Chloe laughed and finished her beer.

"Okay, what happened next?" Chloe asked.

Max described seeing the tornado vision again up by the lighthouse.

"In that vision, I saw a newspaper and the date was Friday the 11th," Max said.

"Hey, Friday came and went with no apocalyptic tornadoes," Chloe said.

"This time," Max said.

"Oh fuck," Chloe said, "you aren't kidding, are you?"

Max shook her head.

"When I came out of the vision, I told you about it and about my time reversing power," Max said, "you didn't believe me at first but then it started snowing."

"Snowing?" Chloe said.

"Yeah," Max said, "it was the first sign that something was really fucked up."

"Dude, this is giving me chills," Chloe said.

Max continued, describing how her and Chloe had separately stayed up most of the night researching time travel and trying to get a handle on what was happening...without much luck.

Max then described the time reversal tests at the Two Whales.

"That's hilarious," Chloe said, "I guess if it worked once…"

"Yeah, I pretty much just did the exact same thing," Max said, "and after I'd proven my powers, we came out here, to the junkyard...at your insistence of course, for you to test me out...using the gun you'd nabbed from David's safe."

"Wait," Chloe said, "I stole a gun off of David?"

"Yep," Max said, "or 'step-ass,' as you referred to him at the time. I wasn't too happy about you having the gun...but you were pretty concerned after nearly being shot by Nathan."

"Justifiably so," Chloe said, rubbing her side.

Max described the tests and used the opportunity to ask Chloe to never again make her go searching for empty beer bottles. She detailed Frank's arrival and the fact that he was wearing Rachel's bracelet.

"What?" Chloe said, sitting upright, "where the fuck did he get that?"

"Rachel gave it to him," Max said, "um...it turns out that the two of them were very close."

"Ugh," Chloe said, resting her head in her hands.

"I think it was after that point that we decided to really dig in to find out what happened to Rachel," Max said.

Max skipped to later in the day and described Kate's attempted suicide. Chloe's mouth hung open in shock. Max's voice became very quiet as she described how she'd talked Kate down from the roof.

"Wow, Max," Chloe said, "you really are a badass. You saved her life. The day after saving _my_ life! Shit, you _are_ a superhero."

"It didn't feel that way," Max said, "it felt like it was luck. I didn't have my powers at all."

"Whatever you said brought her off of that ledge, Max," Chloe said, "that sounds like a hero to me...have I said that before?"

"Something like it," Max said.

"Good," Chloe said.

Max then described how she'd gotten Nathan suspended by Principal Wells ("fuck yeah!" Chloe said) and how an eclipse had occurred as the sun set.

"First snow and then an eclipse?" Chloe said, "what the shit?"

Max recalled how they became even more determined to get to the bottom of Rachel's disappearance after Kate's near suicide. Chloe became ecstatic as Max described sneaking into Blackwell with David's keys. When Max explained how they broke into Principal Wells' office, Chloe stood up.

"Aha!" Chloe said, "I _am_ a good bad influence on you! This totally explains you breaking into Nathan's room yesterday: you had a bit of Chloe Price egging you on."

"Pretty much," Max said, smiling, "although definitely give Warren some credit for the office break-in too. He did tell us how to make a bomb."

"I need to spend more time with that guy," Chloe said.

Max described going through the principal's files, looking at the various student records.

"Including yours," Max said, shaking her finger, "bad Chloe."

Chloe shrugged.

Max talked about the documents that showed Nathan's true record: bad marks, warnings, and even illegal activity, all expunged at the urging of Nathan's wealthy father. Chloe was visibly angered by this but remained quiet.

"You also wanted to steal the chair," Max said.

"You didn't let me steal the chair, did you?" Chloe asked.

"No," Max said. She hesitated, "but I did let you take a huge stack of cash from Principal Wells' desk."

"Really?" Chloe said, "no way!"

"I figured that if you paid back Frank, he might be more willing to give us information. At the time it seemed like he might even be a suspect," Max said.

"You sure you didn't just want it so we could party hard?" Chloe said.

"It was for a handicapped fund," Max said.

"Oh," Chloe said, "well...I still would've taken it...I think. But I see your point. How much was it?"

"Five thousand," Max said.

"Fuck that shit," Chloe said, "hell yeah I would've pilfered that. What happened next?"

"You decided that you wanted to raid the pool," Max said.

Chloe's eyes widened, "oh yes, that sounds amazeballs. Please tell me we did it."

"You convinced me," Max said, "...splish splash."

"Awesome...I am so loving this," Chloe said.

"We did nearly get caught by David and one of his goons," Max said.

"Ouch, they didn't nearly catch us in our undies, did they? Or were we skinny dipping?" Chloe said with a grin.

"No and no," Max said.

Max explained that they'd high-tailed out of Blackwell and back to Chloe's place, where Max had slept over. She described how, the next morning, Chloe had urged Max to try on some of Rachel's old clothes...since Max's reeked of chlorine.

"Good idea," Chloe said, "she was about your size. And remember our deal? For me to pick outfits for you?

"One outfit, Chloe," Max said.

"Yes yes," Chloe said, "but to my point: Rachel's style totally came to mind when I was thinking of what you'd look good in. So did you try on her clothes? Did they look good?"

"Yeah," Max said, "they fit well. But I'm not sure I have an inner punk-rock girl."

"We'll find her," Chloe said, "she must be in there somewhere...maybe. So what happened next?"

"You dared me to kiss you," Max said.

Max could have sworn that Chloe blushed slightly at that.

"Did you?" Chloe said after a moment.

"Of course; you double-dared me," Max said with a grin.

Chloe smiled back. Max couldn't help but think that Chloe looked very...Max-like at the moment. She was grasping her arm and looking rather sheepish.

_I wouldn't have thought that 'adorable' would ever be a word to describe Chloe_ , Max thought, grinning, _but it definitely does right now. She must have thought she was so clever with the kiss dare; but now she must suspect that I'm on to her little scheme._

Max saved that thought and continued, explaining how she managed to steal Frank's keys for them to investigate the RV.

"You really are a time travel ninja," Chloe said.

"It did take a few tries," Max said.

"It's still awesome," Chloe said, "I haven't been in Frank's RV in forever. I'm guessing it was as much of a shit pit as it always was."

Max nodded.

"Still," Chloe said, "I would love to nab that RV. We could go anywhere."

"You said the same thing when we broke into it," Max said, "and then I said you'd probably want me to kiss you again."

"Max, I think you might be a bit fixated on this kiss thing," Chloe said, grinning.

"Oh shut up," Max said.

"So did we get any dirt?" Chloe said.

"Not much, only a list of Frank's customer's code names," Max said, "but it ended up being useful later."

"Ooh, what was my code name?" Chloe asked.

"Bulldog; they were all dogs," Max said.

"Figures," Chloe said, "that guy loves that mutt of his. What was your nickname?"

"Seriously?" Max said.

"Just kidding," Chloe said.

Max smiled but it quickly vanished.

"What?" Chloe said.

"This is where things start getting really heavy," Max said.

"That's okay, I have another beer," Chloe said, grabbing a bottle.

"After everything with Frank, you ended up being really upset...and you mentioned how everything went to shit after William died," Max said.

"True enough," Chloe said, frowning.

"You dropped me off at Blackwell and you looked so sad...I ended up going through some old photos and that's when...I discovered something new about my powers," Max said.

"What happened?" Chloe asked slowly.

"I...focused on one of the old photos. It was a picture of you and I from five years ago; one that William took of us. And then suddenly...I was there," Max said.

Chloe was silent.

"I was somehow back in my thirteen year old self. And you were there. And William was there," Max said.

"You...saw my dad again?" Chloe said.

"Yes," Max said, "it...it was the last day he was alive."

Chloe's eyes widened.

"I stopped him from leaving, Chloe," Max said, "I changed your past; our past. I came back to the future and everything was different. William was alive...but _you_ ended up in a car crash instead."

Max took a breath.

"You were completely paralyzed, Chloe," Max continued, her voice strained and tears welling in her eyes, "you were in constant pain...and you were slowly dying. We spent some time together and then...well...you asked me to end your life. And...I did. I did it for you. I didn't want you to suffer in any reality, in any time. I couldn't bear the thought of you in any more pain."

Max wiped her eyes and Chloe said, "God, Max, that...that must have been awful. I...can't imagine going through that...I'm so sorry."

"I had no idea what was going to happen when I changed the past. I fucked it up so bad," Max said, shaking her head.

"I would have had no idea how to handle that situation. No one would," Chloe said.

"I went back again, through the same picture," Max said, "and didn't do anything. I let William go."

Max dried her tears and Chloe stared at her.

"When I came back, everything was...fixed," Max said, "everything was the way it was before. Chloe, I'm so sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have even mentioned it."

"No, Max," Chloe said, "I want to hear all of this. I want to know what happened. This was obviously hard on you and you can't keep it all bottled up."

"Thanks, Chloe," Max said, "and...I know it can't be easy to know that there was a timeline where your dad survived. Any time you want to talk about any of this…"

"I know where to find you," Chloe said, clearing her throat, "now what happened next?"

"We were back at your house and I searched through David's stuff, gathering some files," Max said.

"David's stuff?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, he had files and photos that came in handy later," Max said.

"Sounds like we were becoming hella good detectives," Chloe said with a small smile.

Max continued with the details of them breaking into Nathan's room and finding his secret bag with the phone and papers. She explained how Nathan had found them but that Warren had come to the rescue.

"Wow," Chloe said, "I liked Warren already but this alternate history is putting a whole new badass spin on the guy. Dude, he really had your back...he's got my total respect for that."

Max described how they visited Frank and, after some rewinds, convinced him to provide them with information on his drug deals.

"After that came the investigative bit," Max said, "we dragged that old wooden board in from your backyard and taped all of the clues up. You looked up GPS coordinates while I sorted the clues on the board."

"GPS coordinates?" Chloe said.

"Yeah," Max said, "David put GPS trackers on a bunch of vehicles that he considered suspect. Seemed really sketchy and I'm sure it's legally dubious, but it turned out to be hella useful for us since Nathan's was one of the cars he'd put one on."

"You just said hella again," Chloe said, "I'm falling in love."

_I can't quite tell if she's joking when she says things like that_ , Max thought.

"Us, Sherlock and Watson that we are, actually found out where Jefferson's Dark Room was," Max said.

" _We_ found it?" Chloe said.

"Yeah, but we didn't know it was Jefferson's and we didn't know what it was until we got up there and stumbled upon it under the floor of a barn," Max said.

"Shit," Chloe said, "that must have been creepy as hell."

"It was," Max said. She found herself rubbing her wrists and forced herself to stop.

"We found Jefferson's photos," Max said, "we found Kate's...and we found Rachel's."

"No..." Chloe said.

"One of the pictures showed the junkyard," Max said, "we came out here so fast and we...we were the ones who found Rachel."

Chloe visibly paled.

"We still thought it was Nathan at that point. I mean, it _was_ Nathan, but we still didn't know about Jefferson," Max said, "so we went to the Vortex Club party. I don't know what exactly you were planning, Chloe, but I got the sense that Nathan wasn't going to...well, that he wasn't going to like it."

"I'm sure he wouldn't," Chloe said quietly.

"We couldn't find Nathan and then as we left, we got a text message from his phone insinuating that he was going to take Rachel's body and destroy any other evidence," Max said, "we rushed back here but...it was a trap."

Chloe tensed.

"It was Jefferson," Max said, her voice flat, "he jabbed me with a needle from behind. I couldn't rewind...I couldn't do anything. And he shot you...you were dead again."

"Fuck. No," Chloe said, her head in her hands, "I'm sorry, Max, I'm so sorry."

"I woke up in the Dark Room," Max said, staring into the distance and speaking tonelessly, "Jefferson had me strapped to a chair with duct tape." Max had started rubbing her wrists again and comprehension dawned on Chloe's face.

Chloe reached out and held Max's hands, gently prying them away from her wrists.

"I'm here, Max," she said, "you're here with me, not there."

Max nodded and continued, her voice shaking, "he had me tied up and was taking pictures of me. He's a psychopath, Chloe. No one knew. He kidnapped girls from Blackwell, ones that he thought were 'innocent'. He was obsessed with capturing the moment where innocence dies...turns to fear."

"That sick bastard," Chloe said, gritting her teeth.

"Rachel's death was an accident," Max said, "Nathan trying to be like Jefferson. But with me...it sounded like I'd been on Jefferson's list for a while. And because of how much we'd found out, he was going to kill me after he finished with his photo shoot. And he'd put the blame for both of our deaths on Nathan."

"What?" Chloe said.

"By then he'd already killed Nathan," Max said, "Nathan actually called me...but I only got the message much later; he knew that Jefferson was coming for him and...and he actually sounded sorry for everything."

"Shit," Chloe said, "what the hell did you do?"

"Used my powers," Max said, "I managed to get some photos in front of me. I went back to Monday, just before the incident with you in the bathroom. I texted David the information about Jefferson, Nathan, and the Dark Room. Then I handed my photo to Jefferson and walked out. When I came back to the present, I was on an airplane to San Francisco with Principal Wells."

"Wait, what the fuck?" Chloe said, "I'm so confused."

"In the new timeline I'd created, David found the Dark Room and both Jefferson and Nathan were arrested," Max said, "and my photo won the 'Everyday Heroes' contest...so I was flying up to San Francisco. And because of all that, you never got shot and everything seemed pretty great."

"That...that _is_ pretty great, Max," Chloe said, "so why aren't we sipping champagne in some fancy Portland art gallery right now?"

"The tornado," Max said.

"Shit, you mean that was real?" Chloe said.

"Yeah," Max said, "you called me while I was at the photo gallery right as the storm was tearing Arcadia Bay to pieces."

"So I died again," Chloe said.

"You and a shit ton of other people," Max said.

"What did you do?" Chloe said.

"I used my photo in the gallery to go back to when I took it," Max said, "and I tore it up so I couldn't enter it into the contest. But when I popped back to the future, I was in the Dark Room again."

"Mother fucker," Chloe said.

"I thought I was done for," Max said, and Chloe held her hands tighter, "but David showed up."

"David?" Chloe said.

"Yeah, David the hero. He must've found the evidence we put together in your room. He got into the Dark Room and, well, Jefferson actually ended up killing him...a lot," Max said.

"Seriously?" Chloe said.

"I had to rewind so many times to warn David at just the right moments...but he finally knocked Jefferson out and tied him up," Max said.

"Wow, Max," Chloe said, "I can't believe everything you had to go through and...wait, was I dead again?"

Max nodded and said, "yeah, but there was no way in hell that I was letting you stay that way. I drove Jefferson's fancy Bentley into town and met Warren at the Two Whales. The storm around the tornado was already intense and the tornado itself was just...looming over the town."

"Fuck that thing," Chloe said.

Max described using Warren's selfie from before the party to travel back and warn Chloe about Jefferson.

"Wait," Chloe said, releasing Max's hands and taking another sip of her beer, "why did you have to tell _me_ what to do?"

"Because past me wouldn't have those memories," Max said, "when I travel back using a photo, I'm only there for a few minutes to change things in a limited area and then I go back. Past me doesn't remember anything from future me and when I get back to where I started, I don't know what happened in between. I get little...flashes of memories from the time in between but they're so hazy that they might as well be useless."

Max described how, in the time that Max skipped over, they hid out at Chloe's place and convinced David to take Jefferson down. She described how she returned to the future to find Chloe alive and the tornado out in front of them.

"And then I collapsed and had a weird-ass lucid nightmare," Max said, "a psychiatrist would have a field day with it. While I was out, you carried me up to the lighthouse; I woke up there and it was just the two of us. We were relatively safe there but the tornado was almost at the town."

"I have a feeling that something big went down at that point," Chloe said.

"Yeah," Max said.

She looked down and then looked up to meet Chloe's eyes.

"We figured something out," Max said, "we realized that all of the crazy shit leading up to the tornado: the snow, the eclipse, the dead animals...it all started happening after I used my power the first time to save you. When I did that, something broke. The tornado was a result. It came because of what I did in that bathroom...because I changed time and fucked something up royally. And you...you had the photo I took in the bathroom that day."

"So to fix it," Chloe said, her voice quiet, "you'd have to go back...and do nothing."

Max nodded, her eyes shining again with tears.

"You did it, didn't you?" Chloe said, "you used the photo to come back."

"Chloe, you were my number one priority," Max said, tears falling down her cheeks, "everything I did...I did to save you. I changed time to try to keep you safe, to keep you with me. I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to lose you. I never wanted to lose you."

"Then why did you do it?" Chloe said.

"Because...because it was the right thing to do," Max said.

Chloe turned away, anguish on her face.

"I understand," Chloe said, "it was my destiny. And I guess it always has been...to be left behind."

_No!_ Max thought, panicking, _that's not...that was the wrong thing to say. I don't even know why I said it;_ I'm _not convinced it was the right thing to do. That's not really why I did it...I need to be honest with Chloe...and with myself._

Max rewound.

"...why did you do it?" Chloe said.

Max paused.

"Because you asked me to," Max said.

"I...I did?" Chloe said.

Max nodded and said, "you told me that you didn't want the people in Arcadia Bay to die. You didn't want your mom to die. You said that you'd been selfish and that, no matter what, the time we'd shared would always be ours."

Tears ran down Chloe's face too and she grasped Max's hands.

"But _I_ wanted to be selfish," Max said, "I wanted to tear that photo up and throw it into the wind. At that moment I didn't care. I wanted to be with you forever; we'd been through so much. _You'd_ been through so much...and I wanted you to finally be happy. I thought to myself that going back and trying to stop the storm would be just one more attempt at changing time. What if it failed? I still don't fully understand what happened. I mean, fuck! I had the vision of the tornado first! _Before_ anything else."

She pulled a hand out of Chloe's grasp to wipe the tears off of her face.

"But it seemed like you were right," Max said, "that storm; it looked like it was going to destroy everything. So we...we said goodbye. I promised to never forget you."

Chloe pulled Max into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry, Chloe," Max said, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Max," Chloe said, "it's okay."

"I ended up back in that bathroom," Max said quietly over Chloe's shoulder, "and I did nothing. It was like letting William walk out the door...but it was so much worse. I knew...I thought...that you were around that corner from me, dead...and I didn't do anything."

Max and Chloe sat in each other's arms, crying. To Max, it felt like a weight slowly lifting from her heart. For Chloe, the realization hit her that the girl in her arms had crisscrossed space and time for her; and had let go of her in the end only because she'd asked her to.

After what felt like an eternity, Chloe, her voice stuffy, said, "Max, I…"

She paused.

"I can't believe you did all of that...for me," she continued.

"Of course I did," Max said quietly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

They continued to hold each other as more quiet moments slipped by.

"Max?" Chloe finally said, "if you...did what I asked, why am I alive?"

Max let go of Chloe and leaned back, saying, "I don't know."

"That's...not reassuring," Chloe said.

"I know," Max said, wiping her eyes again, "that's why I was snooping in Nathan's room yesterday. Something was different and I'm trying to find out what it was. At first I figured that I'd...I don't know...made a noise or something in the bathroom...something small that changed the outcome. But there have been clues popping up; things that have been bothering me. I'm not sure if you're really safe yet...I may still need to do something. And I need to find out because I'm not going to lose you again. Ever."

"Shit, Max," Chloe said, hiccuping, "what did I ever do to deserve you? I thought that Rachel was my angel, and she was. But you, Max? You've been my angel in more ways than I can even comprehend. I may never be able to make up for that. But you'll be damn sure I'm going to watch your back however I can."

Max smiled and said, "You never have to make it up to me, Chloe. But it feels amazing to know that you're watching my back. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"So wait," Chloe said, drying her tears again, "since you did that picture time travel thing, does this mean that, up until Friday, I wasn't really talking to...you?"

"Er, yeah," Max said, "like I said, I have some hazy memories of the time in between but as far as _I_ was aware, one moment I was crying my eyes out in the girls bathroom because I figured I'd just let my best friend die...and then in the next moment, I was standing in a hospital room with that same best friend alive."

"Ha!" Chloe exclaimed, "that explains it! You went from talking by the window to suddenly jumping all over me. I was hella happy with the hugs but it seemed so strange."

"Yeah," Max said, "I didn't particularly handle that with time travel professionalism...but you can't blame me too much."

"Nope," Chloe said, "I guess I can't. Okay then, I need to clear this up a bit. Up until Friday evening, you were non-time travelling Max. I'll call her Alpha Max. Then you, the time travelling Max, show up. Which makes you…"

"No, don't even say it," Max said.

"Beta Max," Chloe said.

"Insert groan here," Max said, "but wait, _I_ was the original Max. So shouldn't _I_ be Alpha Max?"

"Not from my perspective," Chloe said, "and I'm making the names. This is my revenge for the emojis."

"This is only the kind of conflict that escalates," Max said.

"No, Beta Max," Chloe said, "this is the kind of conflict that is decided by stubbornness. And I'm hella more stubborn than you."

"Shit," Max said.

"Here, come on," Chloe said, standing and pulling Max up, "that was...intense. I think we need to walk it off. And consider the idea that I might be starring in a Final Destination movie."

"I hate those movies," Max said.

"I do too," Chloe said, "although some parts are funny as hell."

Max raised an eyebrow.

"Less funny now," Chloe said.

"Well, if Warren and Brooke were right, I think Death or Nature or whatever is probably not actually out to get you. And even if fate is out to get you, you've got me, your secret weapon," Max said.

"You told Warren and Brooke about this?" Chloe said.

"Not exactly. I told them it was a dream and asked a bunch of 'hypothetical' questions," Max said.

"Smooth," Chloe said, "but what happens if something goes wrong?"

"That's why I've been taking photos every so often and writing the time and date on them," Max said, patting her bag, "if something gets royally screwed, I go back into a photo and write myself a note."

"Max," Chloe said, "you are a mad genius."

They left the junkyard and walked along the train tracks into the woods, Max on one rail and Chloe on the other; Max reached out and grasped Chloe's hand over the center of the tracks.

Max smiled and thought, _there are plenty of things that I really don't mind repeating._

"Thanks for telling me all of that, Max," Chloe said, "I know that couldn't have been easy."

"Thanks for believing me," Max said, "it was one hell of a week and I think I would've gone crazy if I didn't have you here to tell about it."

"Did we do this last time," Chloe said, "walk along the tracks?"

"Yeah, right after I waved a gun at Frank," Max said.

"Are you cereal?" Chloe said, "how did you leave _that_ out of the story?"

"In hindsight, it didn't seem like it was that important," Max said, "Frank came by looking for his money and pulled a knife on you after you started asking about Rachel's bracelet. I had the gun and I pointed it at him; I wasn't going to let him hurt you," Max said.

"What did you do?" Chloe said.

"No bullets left in the gun. Frank took it," Max said.

"Still, badass as hell," Chloe said.

"Anyways, back then you mentioned that railroad tracks make you feel better, I quoted Kerouac, you called me a beat poet. That was after I asked about how you knew Frank and if you and he had...you know," Max said.

"What, if we ever had sex? No way; gross," Chloe said, "he never even tried to make a move on me...not even arm stroking."

"Oh shut up," Max said.

They'd reached a familiar branch in the tracks and Chloe hopped down from the rail.

She started to settle down onto the tracks and Max said, "er, could you sit a little further that way?"

Chloe scooted over and said, "Why? Did you want that spot or...oh shit, did something happen? Did you just rewind?"

"No," Max said, "but the last time we were here, you got caught in the track switch there."

"Are you saying I got run over by a train?" Chloe said.

"Almost," Max said, "and in case you ever need to know, to free someone from the tracks, grab the crowbar up there, bust into that shed, grab wire cutters, open the panel over there, cut the red wire, and pull the lever."

"How many times did I almost die here?" Chloe said.

"Maybe four or five?" Max said, "it took a few tries to figure out."

"Well, Max," Chloe said, leaning back, "with everything you've told me, it's safe to say that we are totally bonded for life."

Max sat down across from Chloe.

"So you were saying that you're trying to figure out why or how Nathan didn't kill me this time around," Chloe said, "any leads, Inspector Max?"

"Well," Max said, "somehow, either Nathan pulled the trigger later than he originally did, the gun was aimed differently than it originally was, or one of you was positioned differently than you were before."

"Makes sense," Chloe said.

"The best lead that I have right now is with Nathan's gun...unless...did you get any cryptic messages or have anything weird happen before you met up with Nathan?" Max said.

"Not that I know of," Chloe said, "what was up with the gun?"

"It may be nothing but David said that there was only one bullet left in the gun after he shot you," Max said, "and when I checked Nathan's room, I found about a dozen bullets under his couch cushion...along with a key that I suspect was Victoria's spare key to Nathan's room."

"Why would Victoria have a spare...ugh, never mind...do not want to think about that," Chloe said, "so you think Victoria went and pulled bullets out of Nathan's gun?"

"I doubt it," Max said, "besides, she told me that the key was missing and I can't think of why she might lie about that."

"So maybe you...did that...or will do that...somehow?" Chloe said.

"That's what I'd like to find out," Max said, leaning back, "of course it could be nothing. And that's supported by the fact that it should be impossible that I already did it or have yet to do it. If I already did it, I wouldn't be here."

"What do you mean?" Chloe said.

"You'd still be hanging out with Alpha Max," Max said.

"You sure about that?" Chloe said.

"Honestly, no," Max said, "I've only had this power for a few days and I still don't fully understand it...so who the hell knows? But based on what I've experienced so far, it shouldn't happen. Same with the other option there: if it's something I haven't done yet, then _you_ wouldn't be here."

"I see," Chloe said.

"However, I can't discount either of those possibilities. The alternative is still weird though. Did Nathan only keep a couple of bullets in his gun and kept the rest hidden under a couch cushion? And maybe Victoria just left her key there and Nathan threw it in with the bullets? I don't know."

"You know who would know?" Chloe said.

"Who?" Max said.

"Nathan Prescott," Chloe said, "why don't we just ask him straight to his face? Boom, slam him with a question. No good answer? Rewind them boom, slam him with another."

Max sat up.

"Damn, that's a great idea! Can we get to him?" Max said.

"I don't see why not," Chloe said, "and if we do, can I punch him in the face?"

"Chloe…," Max said.

"Come on, you can just rewind it," Chloe said.

"Yeah, but then you don't get the memory of it. Just me," Max said.

"Good point," Chloe said, "but you can describe it to me later, especially the expression on his stupid assface."

"I really should point out that I have no idea how long my time rewinding abilities will last," Max said, "so I want to use these powers carefully."

"Okay okay," Chloe said, "your wish is my command, Master Beta Max."

Max winced, then said, "well, now we have a plan; or at least the start of one."

"So what's step one of said plan?" Chloe said.

"You talk to David and find out how we get in to see Nathan. You can tell him that I want to talk to Nathan to 'understand what happened.' That's the line I've been using on everyone else," Max said.

"Including on me, if I remember correctly," Chloe said.

"Sorry about that," Max said, "no more secrets; you've got all of the history now so I don't have to hold back anything from you."

"And what are you going to do?" Chloe said.

"I'm going to grab the books and movies and websites that Warren recommended the first time around when we were trying to figure out this whole time travel thing. I'm going to skim through again and see if there's something I missed. After all, I'm more of an experienced time traveller now. And, honestly, I really need to get some schoolwork done or it's back to high school in Seattle for me," Max said.

"Okay," Chloe said, "I'll see what I can look up too. We'll get to the bottom of this."

They hopped up and walked back to the junkyard and on to the truck, discussing Chaos Theory along the way. After Chloe dropped Max off at Blackwell, Max grabbed as many time travel related books out of the school library as she could find. She returned to her dorm room and set a timer. She'd work on schoolwork for two hours, then time travel research for two hours, then repeat. She pulled out her World History homework, due tomorrow, and began.

**. . . . .**

Several hours later, the evidence of Max's efforts were scattered around the room: finished homework, various books with sticky notes poking out, papers scattered haphazardly, and a long stream of text messages back and forth between Max and Chloe about time travel and Nathan. Then, after the sun had set and Max was feeling that she could work no longer, the plans were set for the next day:

 **Chloe** : talked to step-David  
**Chloe** : he called officer strawberry  
**Chloe** : we good to go any time  
**Chloe** : they finished interrogating nathan's ass days ago  
**Chloe** : he's just sitting now  
**Max** : Excellent. Time to do a pirate raid on Nathan's brain.  
**Chloe** : prefer pirate punch to face  
**Max** : :|  
**Chloe** : NO EMOJI!  
**Chloe** : what time to pick you up for our date?  
**Max** : Date?  
**Chloe** : with nathan's face  
**Max** : Oh right. Meet in front of Blackwell at 2:30?  
**Chloe** : u completely done after 230?  
**Max** : Yeah, no class after 2:30.  
**Chloe** : date after date with nathan's face?  
**Max** : ...  
**Max** : :D  
**Chloe** : nevermind  
**Max** : :(  
**Chloe** : this is why i cant have nice things  
**Chloe** : although...  
**Chloe** : we could go for a swim  
**Max** : If you're thinking what I think you're thinking…  
**Chloe** : blackwell pool splish splash  
**Max** : No.  
**Chloe** : splish splash  
**Max** : I still go to school here Chloe.  
**Chloe** : splish splash  
**Max** : Alright. I am open to the idea of seizing the Blackwell pool. It was pretty fun the first time.  
**Chloe** : its only fair  
**Chloe** : you remember it but i dont  
**Max** : Okay but not tomorrow. Let's do something else.  
**Chloe** : ok  
**Chloe** : what u thinking  
**Max** : Another movie? Pirate fort?  
**Chloe** : see how we feel after punching nathan?  
**Max** : I shouldn't be laughing.  
**Chloe** : but you are  
**Max** : Okay, let's see how we feel after QUESTIONING Nathan.  
**Chloe** : sweet

Max finished the last part of her math homework and sent another message to Chloe:

**Max** : Finished homework; Two Whales tomorrow?  
**Chloe** : hella yeah

Max smiled and collapsed into bed atop her sheets, quickly falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with the first time I uploaded this story, I forgot until now to mention how my process works (which doesn't matter as much for _this_ already-written story but does for the sequel that I'm working on): I start by writing an entire first draft of the whole story followed by a couple of major edits of the entire thing. Then I edit individual chapters, releasing each one after editing. So when I _do_ start releasing chapters, there are only a few days between releases. Right now, I'm nearly finished with the first draft of the sequel (it takes place over seven days and I'm on the seventh day now (technically it's eight days but the eighth one is a concluding chapter)). It will take a little while longer to do the big edits...but then once you start seeing chapters, you'll know that you'll be getting them pretty rapidly!  
>  That being said, I'm doing a cross-country move soon, which may interrupt the process. I want to try to get the story out as soon as I can but I also want to make sure it's good before shipping it out!
> 
> Also, a couple of notes about this chapter:   
> 1\. I was torn between making this chapter more detailed (to get more Chloe reactions to the story) and making it shorter since almost everyone reading this already knows this stuff...I hope I found a happy medium between those.  
> 2\. Beta Max: I almost removed this since there are other LiS stories that have used it (including the amazing Better Then by IsraelBlargh). I decided to keep it because it's fun and because if I only include things no one else has thought of, it'd be a pretty sparse story...


	6. Secrets

Max woke to the sound of her alarm.

She flailed her hand in the general direction of her phone until she managed to hit the snooze button. She lay still and stared at the ceiling, still far too comfortable to leave the bed.

_Hmm...I don't think I had the funeral vision last night_ , she thought, _that must be a good sign...right?_

And yet the sunlit cemetery, crowd of mourners, and brown casket still hovered in the back of her mind.

_Stick to the plan_ , Max thought, _find out what happened and then we can try to make sense of this._

She rolled out of bed, stacked up some crumpled notes that she'd been sleeping on, and watered Lisa. She then grabbed her camera to take the morning's emergency photo. She aimed the camera at her desk, seeing nothing else in the room that piqued her interest.

_Lame_ , she thought, _it doesn't quite feel like real photography when I'm taking photos on a schedule rather than by inspiration. But I need to have at least one daily photo and inspiration doesn't always line up._

But then she glanced out the window and saw a pair of birds perched on a branch, perfectly illuminated by the morning sun. She turned and took a photo of them, writing the date and time on the finished photo and placing it in her bag on the floor.

_But then again_ , Max thought, _sometimes inspiration_ does _have good timing._

She grabbed her shower caddy and stepped out into the hall. She could hear music from several rooms, including the soft sounds of a violin from Kate's. She made her way to the showers and stepped into one of the middle stalls. She undressed and stood under the hot water.

After a few moments, Max heard footsteps and chatter from outside. As soon as the voices came into the room, she recognized them: Victoria and Taylor. She stepped over close to the shower curtain to listen in.

"...and then she laughed at me," Taylor was saying, "there was a fucking _bird_ in my hair and Courtney did nothing but laugh."

Victoria chuckled and said, "come on Taylor, you know you would've done the same. It sounded like it was fucking hilarious."

Taylor didn't respond.

"Anyways, I received a message from Nathan this morning," Victoria said. Max leaned closer to the curtain.

"Are you kidding?" Taylor said.

"No," Victoria said, "although I think it was actually his father using Nathan's phone."

"What did it say?" Taylor said.

"It was an offer to sneak into Nathan's room and remove anything embarrassing or incriminating," Victoria said.

"Really? What did he...they offer?" Taylor said.

"Money, of course," Victoria said, "there was also something of an implied threat, as usual."

"What are you going to do?" Taylor said.

"What I'm _not_ going to do is get caught up in any Prescott bullshit. So I texted back and said that Nathan's door was locked and that I had lost the extra key I had," Victoria said.

"Is that true?" Taylor asked.

"Mostly," Victoria said, "it's true that the key is missing; I have no idea what happened to it. But as for the other half, I did actually go down to Nathan's room. Some idiot, probably David Madsen or Principal Wells or a careless cop, had left his door unlocked. I snooped around and found nothing more embarrassing than porn magazines."

"But what about the threat?" Taylor said.

"No reason for them to come after me. Nathan can confirm that the key went missing; I told him last Sunday," Victoria said, "and as for the door, I locked it when I was done and left out the window. As far as they know, everything I said was true."

"So why did you go to Nathan's room if not for the money?" Taylor said.

"Oh please," Victoria said, "I was curious. I wanted to see what might be 'embarrassing or incriminating.' Besides, while I would obviously love extra cash, I don't want to start having those kinds of transactions, particularly with Nathan's father."

"Snooping around like that? Sounds a bit like you were role-playing Max," Taylor said.

"Ha," Victoria said, "me? Doing Max Caulfield cosplay? That's hilarious...although I guess it _is_ kind of true in this case. The only thing that would have made it complete is if I'd been taking selfies the whole time. You're right though, that girl does seem to always stick her nose wherever it doesn't belong. She might miss her calling if she keeps up with her selfie shit. I can just see her and that punk girlfriend of hers sneaking around in trenchcoats, taking pictures of cheating investment bankers for a pittance from money-grubbing socialites."

_Hmm_ , Max thought, _Max Caulfield & Chloe Price, Private Investigators. Doesn't sound so bad, actually. Still, I think I'll stick to the artistic side of photography, Victoria._

"What about Nathan's 'apartment' at his parents' place?" Taylor asked, "think there's anything interesting there?"

"I'm sure there is," Victoria said, "but I've only ever been up there for a few minutes at a time. Cozy place but Nathan never stayed there after he started at Blackwell. Spending time right underneath his father was not Nathan's idea of a good time. But he did tell me that he didn't keep anything really valuable or important at Blackwell. Made sure all of his important stuff, including his so-called 'Master Photographs', stayed up there. Well, except for the creepy shit he was doing with Mr. Jefferson, apparently."

"I still can't believe it. Did you ever have any clue about that?" Taylor asked.

"No, of course not," Victoria said, "I'd noticed that Nathan was getting increasingly...frantic over the last few weeks. But I never had any idea. Not about him or Mark...Mr. Jefferson."

The pair finished whatever they'd come in for and moved out into the hall, their voices fading quickly.

_Well_ , that _was interesting_ , Max thought, _turns out that Victoria has a nosy side too...although it sounds like she didn't find the bullets in the couch. I guess I_ am _the expert at snooping. And Nathan has some kind of apartment at...under?...his parents' place? Good to know._

Max finished showering and returned to her room, dressing quickly. Listening in on Victoria and Taylor had taken up time and she needed to make it to the bus...in fact she'd already missed the first one. She jogged across campus and had to wait for the next one.

**. . . . .**

When Max arrived at the Two Whales, Chloe was already there.

"Dude, you're late," Chloe said.

"Sorry, I ran short on time," Max said.

"You did not just say that," Chloe said.

Before Max could respond, Joyce appeared to pour coffee. Max ordered an omelet; the half-devoured one in front of Chloe looked amazing and Max was famished.

Joyce, also eyeing Chloe's plate, said, "Chloe, your appetite always amazes me."

"Good," Chloe said with a grin, "I like to be amazing."

Joyce rolled her eyes and turned to Max. "Well, Max," she said, "I hope that we'll be seeing more of you around the house."

"Definitely," Max said, "I fully intend on being a frequent guest, just like old times."

"Excellent," Joyce said, "always love having you."

Joyce departed with a smile and, once she was out of earshot, Chloe said, "okay, so how are we going to grill Nathan this afternoon?"

"Er," Max said, "I was sort of planning on playing it by ear."

"Really?" Chloe said, "I was hoping we could do a good cop/bad cop thing."

"Well sure, we can keep that option in our pocket...but we have a pretty big advantage already. We might not need other tricks," Max said.

"True, Super Max," Chloe said, "have to say though, I was looking forward to trying out good cop."

"Are you cereal?" Max said, " _you_ , good cop? _Me_ , bad cop? Have you met us?"

"You have to admit it would confuse the hell out of him," Chloe said.

"It would confuse the hell out of _me_ ," Max said.

"Okay, we'll play it your way," Chloe said, "but I'm still hoping I get the chance to punch that shithead right in the face."

Max sighed and said, "I won't judge...I'd be lying if I said I'd never fantasized about punching Jefferson in the face or kicking him in the...well, you get the idea."

"There we go! Yes! This is good," Chloe said, "we need to make this an event...it'll be Punchfest 2013. We go in, break some faces, rewind, and then...break faces again, rewind, and then make nice."

"This is why I should never encourage you," Max said.

Chloe opened her mouth but Max said, "hold on, before you get too far into planning Punchfest 2013, I have some new info. I was in the shower this morning…"

"Ooh la la, tell me the details," Chloe said, leaning forward.

"You are out of control," Max said.

"Yep yep, insane in the brain!" Chloe said, grinning.

" _Anyways_ ," Max said, "Victoria and Taylor came in…"

"Into the shower with you?" Chloe said.

"No, outside the shower! You went to Blackwell, you know what the shower room looks like!" Max said.

"Just thought that your story might be going into some very unexpected territory," Chloe said.

Max stared.

"Sorry," Chloe said, "I'm just having too much fun messing with you. Please continue. No more interruptions."

Max tried to look incredulous but couldn't hide her smile.

Joyce arrived with Max's omelet and said, "you look equal parts annoyed and amused, Max. That's how you know someone's talking to Chloe."

"Thanks, mom," Chloe said.

Joyce patted Chloe on the shoulder and went back towards the counter.

"Anyways," Max continued, "Victoria and Taylor came in, not into my shower but into the room outside, and started talking. I listened in and found out that Nathan or his dad tried to bribe and sort of threaten Victoria to have her go into Nathan's room and get rid of anything that might embarrass the family or further incriminate Nathan."

"Shit," Chloe said, "did she do it?"

"Kind of," Max said, "she went snooping down there out of curiosity but told the Prescotts that she didn't have a key, which is true, and that the door was locked, which wasn't true."

"Did she find the bullets?" Chloe asked.

"I don't think so," Max said, "I think she would've mentioned that."

"Think she'll get busted over the door not being locked if Nathan or his dad get someone else to check?" Chloe said.

"No," Max said, "she locked it from the inside and climbed out the window."

"Ha! What I wouldn't give to see Victoria Chase climbing out of a Blackwell dorm window and falling ass-first into the bushes," Chloe said.

"Me too," Max said, chuckling, "a Kickstarter for a video of that would probably pay my entire tuition."

"And Victoria didn't know you were in the shower, listening?" Chloe said.

"Yeah, it's super weird," Max said, "people talk all the time in the shower room when there are people in the showers. I've heard some crazy gossip in there. But anyways, that wasn't all that I overheard this morning. Victoria also mentioned that Nathan keeps all of his valuables and favorite photos in what I guess is a basement apartment at his parents' place."

"Which one of his parents' places?" Chloe said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Max asked.

"The Prescotts have a bunch of different properties all over Arcadia Bay. Seems like I see that fucking name everywhere. But there are only two that the family uses for themselves. One is a pretty huge house in town; not too far from here, actually. The other is a giant fucking mansion up the road out past the cemetery," Chloe said.

"How do you know that?" Max said, eyebrows raised.

"One of those things that you pick up from listening to people around here," Chloe said, "there isn't a lot of love for the Prescotts, so people talk about them."

"I didn't know that there were two places," Max said, groaning, "which means I don't know which place Nathan has his secret apartment at."

"Another thing to add to the list of questions for Nathan this afternoon," Chloe said, "also, you'd better start eating that omelet or I'm going to steal it."

_A legitimate threat_ , Max thought. She started digging into her omelet and closed her eyes as she chewed. _Everything at the Two Whales is amazing._

"Hey, Max," Chloe said, "I...um...have something to tell you."

Max opened her eyes and awkwardly removed a strand of cheese from her lip.

Chloe chuckled nervously and Max raised an eyebrow.

"I...I'm thinking about taking some classes at Bay City College," Chloe said.

"That's great, Chloe!" Max said.

"You think so?" Chloe said.

"Of course," Max said, "what do you think you'll take?"

"Some core classes; get a stack of credits built up," Chloe said, "and maybe some writing classes. Some art courses. Science. I remember liking science."

"Yeah, you got super excited talking about Chaos Theory yesterday. This is great, Chloe. It sounds like a good plan," Max said.

"I just hope I'm actually decent at it," Chloe said, "I didn't do so well at Blackwell."

_Do I tell her?_ Max thought, _in that alternate reality she was such a brilliant student. I know she has it in her._

"I know you have it in you, Chloe," Max said, "you know the, um, alternate timeline?"

"The hella depressing one? Yeah," Chloe said.

"Well, in that timeline, you were a straight A student. You rocked it," Max said, "and besides, you were always leaving me in the dust with grades back in middle school."

"True true," Chloe said, "it's just hard to imagine going back to that. The studying, the papers, the homework." She exaggerated a shudder.

"And hopefully," she continued, looking down, "I don't need to be paralyzed and dying to do decently."

"That's not what I meant," Max said, her eyes widening, "I just know you can do it because...well, I know how awesome you are in any timeline and...um...you still had the same brain in both realities."

"Chill, dude," Chloe said, reaching across the table and putting her hand on Max's, "I know what you meant and…it's sweet."

She paused for a moment and looked away, saying, "I still can't believe you went through that. I don't know what I would've done. I don't know if I could've done it," she looked back at Max, "you're the best friend someone could ask for. I don't know what I ever did to deserve you."

Max smiled and said, "you keep saying that and yet, here I am. Always. I failed miserably at the "forever" part of 'best friends forever' for five years. There's no fucking way I'm doing that ever again. You're stuck with me."

Chloe smiled and Max held her fist up, saying, "partners in time?"

Chloe groaned but bumped Max's fist. "That is so fucking cheesy," Chloe said.

"Hey," Max said, "you came up with it."

"No way," Chloe said.

"You did...right before we broke into Blackwell and exploded our way I into Wells' office," Max said.

"Shit," Chloe said, "I think this is all your fault. You do weird things to my brain."

Max grinned.

"Speaking of which," Chloe continued, wincing and lowering her voice to a whisper, "I'm also thinking about getting a job."

"A job?" Max said loudly.

"Keep your voice down," Chloe said, glancing around, "I'm...I'm not sure yet and I don't want to get my mom breathing down my neck about it. Besides, after everything that's happened...and after spending the last few days with you and finding out that you have fucking superpowers? I feel like I need to be more self-sufficient. Contribute, you know...be able to pay for stuff."

"That's incredible, Chloe," Max said, "do you know what you want to do?"

"What I _want_ to do?" Chloe said, "professional skateboarding? Tattoo design? Professional gaming? Pirate? Own a weed store?"

"Pretty sure that last one's not legal in Oregon. Or the one before that, for that matter," Max said.

"Fuck that," Chloe said, "we can move to Colorado...or...um...Washington?"

Max shrugged, "I'm not exactly an expert on weed."

"Anyways," Chloe said, "that's the shit I'd _want_ to do...but I doubt I'll find much of that work in Arcadia Bay. Unless I want to get murdered via Craigslist."

"And then I'd rewind and un-murder you," Max said.

"Wow, Max, you're like a real-life cheat code. Amazeballs," Chloe said.

"Remember, Chloe, this particular cheat code may have an expiration date," Max said, "I have no idea how long this will continue so please don't rely on me to save your ass."

"Okay okay," Chloe said, "don't worry too much. After getting shot, I'm not in a hurry to go through anything close to that again."

"I'll be much happier if you never get shot again," Max said.

Chloe smiled.

"What about the music shop?" Max said.

"What about it?" Chloe said.

"For a job," Max said, "isn't there a music shop about three blocks from here?"

"Oh, that one closed," Chloe said, "I remember we were in there about once a week back in the day. Man did we have shitty tastes back then. There is a new shop though...a few blocks the other way."

"So what about that one?" Max said.

"That might work...that might really work," Chloe said, "I could see myself hawking shitty music to dumb pre-teens."

"Um...that's the spirit?" Max said.

"Dude, it would be fun," Chloe said.

"Go for it then!" Max said, "and if you want any help finding openings or anything..."

"Thanks, Max," Chloe said, her smile bright.

_Chloe thinking about going to school and getting a job_ , Max thought, finishing up her omelet, _it's hard to believe that only a few days ago, her biggest dream was to just get out. I'm sure she still wants to...but now she's planning things out; making a future._

"I'm proud of you, Chloe," Max said.

Chloe waved her hand, "it's all your fault anyways. Bringing me into the real world just enough for me to remember to live life. Not just coast like a zombie."

"Funny," Max said, "I'd always thought that it was _you_ bringing _me_ into the real world...just enough so that I actually interact with it instead of just standing back and observing."

"My mom's right," Chloe said, "we are good influences on each other."

"Hella good," Max said.

Chloe grinned and said, "do you have classes today?"

"Yeah," Max replied, "in fact, could I get a ride back up to Blackwell?" Max asked.

"Sure," Chloe said, "what have you got?"

"World History and Algebra," Max said, making a face.

"That sucks," Chloe said, "want to hang out with me instead?"

"You _know_ I want to hang out with you instead," Max said, "but I need to keep my scholarship and get through the rest of this year. Besides, I spent _hours_ on the homework for these classes yesterday and I don't want that to go to waste."

"I know," Chloe said, "figured I'd keep the offer open. Although, supposedly there's a straight-A student inside of here somewhere," Chloe knocked on her head, "and if you spend more time with me, you might be able to get her to pop out and make you a better schoolgirl. Just sayin'."

"That sounds...dirty somehow and I'm not entirely sure why," Max said.

"Well let's get you back up to school before you have too much time to think about it," Chloe said, sliding out of the booth.

Max shook her head with a smile and followed.

"If you want to come hang out when I'm studying or doing homework," Max said, "that would be awesome. As long as you're not too much of a pest."

"I promise nothing, Caulfield," Chloe said, "particularly since you can always rewind and get the jump on me."

They waved bye to Joyce and walked over to Chloe's truck.

"Besides, once _you're_ taking classes, you might need a study buddy," Max said, pointing at herself.

"Does it count if we're not studying the same things?" Chloe said.

"Maybe?" Max said, "I always thought it was more about the moral support."

Chloe snorted and got into the truck, only wincing slightly from her bandaged injury.

They drove towards Blackwell and the conversation turned back to jobs, with Max convincing Chloe to check out the music store, a couple of restaurants, a hotel, and a sporting goods store for opportunities.

_Chloe doesn't seem_ thrilled _about the idea of getting a job_ , Max thought as they approached Blackwell, _but she seems determined to try and she seems really happy that I'm backing her up._

When Chloe stopped in front of the school, Max scooted over and gave her a hug. Chloe's eyes opened in surprise but she quickly wrapped her arms tightly around Max's shoulders.

"Thanks for driving me back up here and good luck!" Max said, letting go and scooting back over to hop out of the truck.

"No problem," Chloe said, a slight blush in her cheeks.

_Ha! Score_ , Max thought.

"See you later," Max said, waving as she shut the door.

Chloe waved back and sped off with a huge grin on her face.

Max turned and her own smile diminished as she looked up at Blackwell. She hadn't been lying when she said she'd rather spend the day with Chloe. But as much of a test as it was to haul herself into classes about history and math, this was the price to pay to also study the things she loved.

She trudged her way up to the building and made her way to her first class.

**. . . . .**

Nearly two hours later, Max was extremely glad to be on her way to the cafeteria for lunch. She was exceedingly proud of herself for turning in complete sets of homework despite the previous week's turmoil (and the turmoil of the week-that-never-happened). And the classes themselves? Max now knew that something called a Hapsburg was very important to the history of Europe. Why though? She'd sort of zoned out on that.

 _Maybe I should take Chloe up on her offer_ , Max thought, _there_ is _an amazing student in that head of hers and I'm sure she would be able to pick up my textbook and tell me_ exactly _why a Hapsburg is important within a minute flat...assuming of course that she wasn't trying to get into my pants instead._

That last thought made her stop in the hallway, her eyes wide. She shook her head to clear the thought and continued.

_And Algebra_ , Max thought, entering the cafeteria, _I'm always way better at it than I think...but my head still hurts after every class._

She grabbed a tray and shuffled over to the serving counter.

"Hi Ed," Max said, smiling at the stocky man behind the counter.

"Hi Max!" Ed said with a huge smile, "what'll it be? I've heard that the macaroni and cheese is good today."

"I'll take that then," Max said.

Ed scooped a generous helping onto a plate for Max and handed some sides over as well.

"Have a great day!" he said.

"You too, Ed," Max replied.

Max stepped out into the cafeteria hall and searched for a place to sit. She spotted Kate sitting alone at a table in the corner, reading. Max wound her way over.

"Hi Kate," Max said, "mind if I sit with you?"

"Please," Kate said, looking up from her book with a smile, "don't even ask. You're always welcome to sit with me."

Max smiled and sat. Kate tucked her book away into her bag.

"How have you been?" Max said.

"Good," Kate said, "very good, actually. I spent the weekend at home; mostly with my dad."

"That's great," Max said, eating a bite of the macaroni and cheese.

She looked up, about to ask more, and saw Kate staring over at the far side of the room, a sly smile forming on her lips. Max followed her gaze and saw Warren and Brooke making their way together towards Kate and Max.

Max turned back to Kate, who said, "are Warren and Brooke dating?"

"I think so," Max said, "I heard that you had something to do with that."

"I did tell Warren that he should go talk to her," Kate said with a wistful smile, "Brooke was clearly so interested...but Warren was completely oblivious. He had a huge crush on…"

She stopped, looking at Max in horror.

"It's okay, Kate," Max said, "I know. He and I talked in the car the other day."

"Oh Max," Kate said, "I'm so sorry. I didn't think...it seemed like you weren't really interested and I…"

"Kate," Max said, "I think you did perfectly."

Max's sincerity must have been clear because Kate visibly relaxed just as Warren and Brooke arrived at the table.

"Maxwell Silver Hammer and Catherine the Great," Warren said as he sat down next to Max and Brooke took a seat next to Kate, "how's it going?"

"Well enough," Max said, "how about you?"

"Going Ape in four days!" Warren said.

"I'm so excited," Brooke said, "this place is incredibly retro. It even has the speakers that hang in your window. I've wanted to go to one of these for _years_."

Warren grinned widely and he and Brooke shared a fist-bump.

Alyssa and Daniel arrived as Warren and Brooke explained "going ape" to a thoroughly confused Kate.  
Max listened in as the two newcomers joined the conversation. Max could be quite the chatterbox in a one on one conversation...but she'd never been very comfortable speaking out in crowds. And for her, five other people counted as a crowd.

She finally started to pay attention to her food again when Juliet and Dana came over to their table. Juliet sat next to Max and Dana sat across the table next to Kate.

"Hi Dana. Hi Juliet," Max said, her eyebrows raised in surprise; Dana and Juliet had always sat with the Vortex Club.

"Hi Max," Dana said brightly, "it's so good to see you back! How's your friend?"

"She's doing really well," Max said, "they released her from the hospital on Saturday."

"That's great," Juliet said. She paused, glanced at Dana, and continued, "you're...probably wondering why we're sitting over here and not with the Vortex Club."

"Er...yeah, kind of," Max said.

"Well first of all, you and everyone here has always been cool," Dana said, "no drama and no stupid shit. That should've been enough for us to bail and hang out with you guys…"

"I think what Dana is trying to say," Juliet said, "is that we never had the nerve to skip out before. At least not until after the shitty prank that Victoria played on us and, of course, after Nathan's psycho attack."

_Oh shit_ , Max thought, _she must be talking about the sexting scheme that Victoria hatched...the one to get back at Juliet for the article criticizing the Vortex Club. Past me wasn't around to resolve that._

"What prank? What happened?" Max asked. She was getting used to feigning ignorance.

"Victoria told me that Dana had been sexting Zachary," Juliet said, crossing her arms, "turns out the whole thing was a lie...but it took us a while to find out what was really going on. Once we did, no more Vortex Club for us and no more Zachary for me."

Juliet's satisfied smirk told Max just how thoroughly the pair had severed their ties to the Vortex Club.

"That being said," Dana said, "Victoria did seem legitimately sorry about it all."

Juliet's smirk faded and she said, "yeah, I don't think I've ever seen her so...confused?"

Dana nodded.

"Maybe I'll forgive her someday," Juliet said.

"I forgave her," Kate said quietly.

The three of them looked at her. Max hadn't realized that Kate had switched her attention to this side of the table.

"She...she came to talk to me, actually...about the video," Kate said, "I'd always thought of her as this...I don't know, invincible monster. But she apologized over and over...and she was crying."

"Wow," Juliet said, "shit, maybe the beast is broken and there _is_ a real person in there."

"I think so," Kate said, "at least...I think all of the meanness and all of the pettiness is a facade, really."

"Yeah," Max said, and they looked at her, "I...um...had a couple of conversations with her."

_In another timeline…_ , Max thought.

"There _is_ a real person in there," Max continued, "and I think she plays the part of the mean girl because she isn't nearly as confident as she seems."

"Then maybe if we make the effort to be nice to her," Kate said, "she'll realize that she doesn't have to push others down to pull herself up."

Dana and Max nodded.

Juliet sighed loudly and said, "so much for my revenge fantasies. Okay, I'll try to be nice."

Dana reached over and patted Juliet on the arm.

Max picked up her fork again but before she could continue eating, she heard Principal Wells' voice over the din of the cafeteria.

"Miss Price! Recent events demand some leniency but you aren't a student here anymore and shouldn't be in here."

Max spun around and saw the familiar blue hair and beanie at the cafeteria entrance.

Before Chloe could respond, several students had recognized her and started clapping and cheering. Surviving a shooting on campus, particularly given the identity of the shooter, had clearly turned Chloe into something of a minor celebrity. She made an elaborate bow to the clapping masses.

Principal Wells looked as if he intended on saying more but waved dismissively to let Chloe continue.

Still, Chloe held up a brown paper bag and said to him, "I brought my own lunch. So I swear I won't mooch off of your food this time."

"Wait, what do you mean _this time_?" Wells asked but Chloe was already walking through the tables, high-fiving and fist-bumping various students. Wells turned and walked away, shaking his head.

Chloe stopped briefly at the table with Justin, Trevor, and the other skaters. She showed them her bandage and happily indulged in their reactions.

"Max...Max...Max!", Juliet was saying, tugging on Max's sleeve.

"Oh, sorry," Max said, turning around. Kate had joined in with Warren, Brooke, Alyssa, and Daniel in a discussion about...Max wasn't quite sure, actually. Dana and Juliet were looking at Max with curious expressions. "What's up?" Max said.

"Dana was asking you if you knew she was coming here today," Juliet said.

"No," Max said, "I went to breakfast with Chloe this morning but she didn't say anything about coming up here for lunch."

Suddenly, a pair of hands came crashing down on Max's shoulders and Chloe's voice boomed in Max's ear, "boo-yah!"

Max jumped and glared at Chloe, "Chloe, what the hell?"

"Sorry, dude," Chloe said, "couldn't help it."

"Hey Warren," she said, ruffling his hair, which elicited a yelp from him and a giggle from Brooke, "move over."

Warren and Daniel shuffled to the side and Chloe slid in to sit next to Max.

"Hi Kate!" Chloe said.

"Hi Chloe, it's so good to see you out of the hospital," Kate said.

"Thanks, it's good to be out," Chloe said.

Max continued to glare but didn't know how long she could keep it up with Chloe smiling around at the group.

_How does she do that?_ Max thought, _she can be so infuriating for about two seconds and then completely melts my heart again._

Chloe noticed Max's wavering glare and said, "oh come on, hippie. Here, I'll make it up to you by letting you have some of my burger." She pulled a massive cheeseburger out of the bag. "But I get to have some of your mac & cheese," she continued.

Max rolled her eyes but smiled.

"Okay fine," Max said.

Then she realized that Chloe hadn't met many of the people at the table, most of whom were staring at Chloe with expressions of curiosity. Dana, however, had an expression that could only be described as barely concealed delight.

_What is she suddenly so happy about?_ Max thought.

"Everyone," Max said, "this is Chloe. Chloe, this is Juliet and Dana. You already know Kate. That's Brooke. You already know Warren. And that's Daniel and that's Alyssa."

"Awesomesauce," Chloe said, "hi everyone."

There was a pause.

"What's it like to be shot?" Alyssa asked.

"Oh shit it is hella painful," Chloe said, "do not get shot, seriously."

Chloe went on to explain the experience in excruciating detail. Warren ended up pushing his tray away, giving up on food while Chloe described needles, stitches, and bloody bandages. She stood up to show the group her bandage and mimed how the bullet had hit her and where it had ended up.

Max stared up at Chloe, resting her head on her hand.

_She is_ loving _the attention_ , Max thought, _to be honest it is a little obnoxious...but it's also sort of adorable. And I love seeing her so happy._

She glanced around the table: they were all enraptured by Chloe's story, even if Warren looked a little queasy. Juliet looked to be taking notes.

_Probably going to turn this into the next Blackwell Totem front page story._

Then Max turned towards Dana, who was looking right at Max with a knowing smile. She winked and Max thought, _uh-oh._

As the gears started turning in Max's head, Chloe sat down abruptly and put her arm around Max's shoulders, squeezing her tightly.

"...and Max here," Chloe said, "chilled out in my hospital room for three days straight. Nurse Nazi finally let her crash on a chair in my room after she'd snuck in about a dozen times."

"That's so sweet," Kate said.

"Yeah, Max," Dana said, sharing a glance with Juliet, "that really was so sweet of you."

Max's cheeks burned red.

Max started to stammer something but Chloe said, "dude, I'm going to eat this whole burger if you don't get some of it first."

Max hurriedly grabbed the burger and took a bite, determinedly avoiding Dana or Juliet's gazes. Chloe reached across and scooped up some mac and cheese with Max's fork.

"Don't tell Wells," she said to the table as she downed it and grabbed a handful of carrot sticks from Max's tray.

Max handed the burger back over to Chloe and turned to Warren, thinking quickly of a distraction.

"Hey Warren," she said, "we...were talking earlier about the next drive-in movie. Maybe get a bunch of us going?"

"Oh yeah," Warren said, "I already have Kate down for a ticket and you said you and Chloe wanted to go?"

_Oops_ , Max said, hazarding a glance at Dana, who looked positively ecstatic.

"Ooh," Chloe said, "I hadn't heard of this yet. What's the movie?"

"Back to the Future," Warren said.

"Ha!" Chloe exclaimed and Max punched her leg under the table.

Warren looked confused but continued, "who else wants to go?"

Everyone's hands went up and Warren counted. Dana added, "could you get a ticket for Trevor too?"

"Dude, you're dating Trevor?" Chloe said. Dana nodded, the grin on her face shifting briefly from impish to joyful.

"Awesome!" Chloe said.

"Great, that makes ten," Warren said, "and what about rides? Brooke and I could take two with us."  
Alyssa and Daniel raised their hands.

"Trevor and I will go together," Dana said.

"And Kate, I could take you," Juliet said quickly.

"And that leaves Max and Chloe together," Dana said. Her grin had definitely become impish again and Max desperately wanted to sink under the table.

"Leaving the two of us without supervision?" Chloe said, "dangerous move. Anything could happen."

"Such as…?" Dana said.

"Give us enough time alone and we _will_ hatch something dastardly," Chloe said, "switch out the movie? Easy. Come scare the shit out of you guys when you least expect it? Basically required. Put rum in Warren's soda? Who knows? We can be hella devious. So yeah, if you get that spidey sense, you might want to send Kate over or something to expunge the evil."

Dana looked a bit disappointed and Max felt relieved. _Nice_ , she thought, _I'm glad Chloe went with Pirate Chloe there instead of dirty humor Chloe._

"On second thought," Chloe said, "maybe don't send someone over. Might get all kinds of awkward." She winked at Max and then winked at the table in general.

Dana looked like she'd been given a Christmas present early and Max thought, _there's dirty humor Chloe._

Max tried to chuckle exactly like the rest of the table and felt like she succeeded admirably. However, she saw Dana nudge Juliet out of the corner of her eye and braced herself.

"So, Chloe," Juliet asked, "could I get a few minutes of your time later to interview you?"

Max relaxed and started eating again.

"Interview me?" Chloe said.

"Yeah, I write for the Totem and obviously Monday's story has been huge," Juliet said, "I'd absolutely love to hear what happened in your own words."

"Sure!" Chloe said.

"Of course," Juliet continued, "as something of a minor celebrity here, you should expect that people are dying to know more about _you_. For instance, are you seeing anyone right now?"

_Oh, there it is_ , Max thought, her face reddening again, _clever...oh so clever. Keep it together, Max._

"Er…," Chloe said, "not right now; not...yet?"

Max glanced over quickly and saw that Chloe's face looked about as red as Max's felt.

"Chloe," Dana said, "it sounds like you have someone special in mind. Whoever it is, I'm sure they're just as amazing as you are. You deserve the best and I'm sure you'll find someone that will...stay at your side through thick and thin."

Again, Max desperately wanted to sink under the table. And yet she also felt buoyed by Dana's words...they were very sweet.

Chloe and Juliet began discussing when to meet for the interview and Kate excused herself to get ready for her next class. Warren and Brooke left moments later, followed by Alyssa and then Daniel. Max still had plenty of food left on her plate and started eating again.

Juliet and Chloe finished their planning and Chloe pulled out her phone. Max glanced over and saw a picture of herself on the screen. She couldn't contain her smile.

"I've got to run," Chloe said, nudging Max with her elbow, "meeting up with some potential employers."

Chloe glanced over at Dana and Juliet, who were deep in a quiet conversation.

"Actually," Chloe whispered to Max, "maybe I should be using my best friend's special skill to cheat at these kinds of things."

A devious smile lit up her face.

"I don't know, Chloe," Max said, "it might look a bit suspicious to have your partner in crime sitting in interviews with you."

"Spoil sport," Chloe said.

"That being said," Max said with a devious smile of her own, "if do you have issues, I could always...hang around and then rewind to give you a leg up."

Chloe stood up and ruffled Max's hair, saying, "you're the best Max, see you later!"

Max watched her go and then turned to find Dana and Juliet staring at her.

_Oh no_ , Max said, _I'm definitely about to get interrogated. Maybe if I'm stubborn enough, they won't be able to drag the truth out of me._

"Max!" Dana said, "you've been holding out on us!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Dana," Max said.

"Oh really?" Juliet said.

"No idea," Max said, taking another bite of her now-cold macaroni and cheese. There also wasn't too much left; Chloe must have eaten more than Max thought.

"You and Chloe, Max! This is so awesome!" Dana said.

"Yeah, Max," Juliet said, "we always thought it would take you _months_ to grab someone...and we were sure it would be Warren. And then boom, three days go by and you've got that punk girl wrapped around your finger."

"And vice-versa," Dana said.

"Come on," Max said, "Chloe and I were best friends back in middle school."

"Looks like you've upgraded your status," Juliet said.

"I have no idea what you mean," Max said, covering up a smile by taking a drink of water.

Dana huffed and said, "come on, Max, you were hanging off of every word she said."

"Not to mention," said Juliet, "that you nearly died of embarrassment when you obviously noticed that we noticed."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Max said again, nibbling on a carrot stick.

"Maaaaxxx," Dana said, "I thought we were friends. We're only badgering you because we want to cheer you on."

Max's resolve wavered; the sincerity in Dana's voice was palpable.

"And because we love hearing the salacious details," Juliet said.

"That too," Dana said.

_Well, there aren't too many salacious details yet_ , Max thought.

"Like you and Chloe kissing, for instance," Juliet said.

Max dropped her fork.

"What?" Max said, "how did you know about th…"

Juliet beamed and Dana squealed. They high-fived each other.

"Shit," Max said.

"Max Max Max!" Dana said, "it's totally true, isn't it?"

Max smiled and nodded.

Dana squealed again and leaned across the table to wrap Max in a sudden hug.

"Max, I'm so happy for you!" Dana said before falling back into her seat.

"You didn't know, did you? About...the kiss?" Max asked Juliet.

"No, but I decided to take the risk and push that button. It definitely paid off," Juliet said with a shrug.

"Practicing your professional skills, I see," Max said, "honestly, you guys almost had me anyways. I was about ten seconds from cracking."

"What are friends for?" Juliet said, patting Max on the shoulder.

"So what was it like?" Dana asked, "making out with Chloe? Was she your first?"

"Oh, well," Max said, her face reddening again, "we haven't really...it was just one and Chloe sort of...dared me to do it."

"Oh my god that's so cute," Dana said, "and you, like, just did it?"

Max nodded with a wistful smile.

"And was that...your first kiss...ever?" Dana said.

"Yeah," Max said.

_Sort of_ , she thought.

"So are you guys official?" Juliet said.

"No, actually," Max said, "we're not really...dating or anything...um...yet?"

"But there's a 'yet' there," Dana said.

"Yeah," Max said, "er...actually could you do me a favor and keep this on the down low? I...haven't told Chloe how I feel and I'm not even sure if she feels that way about me. I mean, I think so but…"

"Max," Dana interrupted, "she is totally into you."

"Head over heels," Juliet said, "you don't think she came in here today to talk to all of us, do you?"

"I...I hadn't thought of that," Max said, "I mean, she was telling the stories and stuff to all of _you_."

"Yeah," Dana said, "but she had her hands all over _you_."

"And," Juliet said, "she was sitting next to you like this." She scooted over so that her hips and arms were right up against Max's.

"I like you, Max," Juliet said, "but this is awkwardly close. Body language tells a lot." She slid away.

_Wow, sitting that close_ is _super awkward_ , Max thought, _but not when it's Chloe...I didn't even notice._

"The prosecution rests its case," Dana said, crossing her arms and leaning back.

"So," Juliet said, "are you going to ask her out?"

"I...that hadn't occurred to me at all," Max said.

_Not even lying_ , Max thought, _with everything that's been going on, I've never even thought about how to actually act on my feelings. There just hasn't been time...haha, nice one._

"You do spend a lot of time together," Dana said, "sometimes things will just sort of...happen spontaneously. I had a guy friend once that I had a super huge crush on. I had no idea that he was crushing on me too. We snuck into the locker room one night to set up a prank and before we knew it, we were making out."

_Knowing Chloe and I, opportunities like that won't be scarce_ , Max thought, _maybe that's how this will go. All I need to do is accept one of Chloe's crazy and borderline criminal propositions and then let the magic happen._ The thought made Max's heart flutter.

"Of course," Juliet said, "if spontaneous make-out sessions just aren't happening or you want to get a jump on it, come to us. We'll help you figure out how to make it fly."

"Thanks, you guys," Max said, "I really appreciate it. And I'll keep my eyes open for those...um...spontaneous opportunities. I guess it's a bit like keeping an eye out for the perfect shots."

"And we promise we'll keep it quiet," Dana said, "but please please please tell us what happens!" Dana said.

"I promise," Max said.

The bell rang and both Dana and Juliet looked down at their half-full trays.

"Well, crap," Juliet said, "speed eating it is."

Dana's reply was muffled from the food she was rapidly stuffing into her mouth.

Max had finally just finished her own food so she wished Dana and Juliet good luck and walked towards her Math Lab class.

_I wonder if I should rewind that_ , Max thought, _find a way to keep my feelings a secret._ She recalled Dana's delighted expression when the truth came out and smiled, thinking, _no, I'll keep it...those two really do care. I've never really had someone cheering me on like that; it's nice._

She stopped in the bathroom and had just sat down in a stall when she heard the door open.

"Oh wow can you believe it? Max and Chloe?" came Juliet's voice.

"I know, right!" came Dana's voice, "so adorable; I just want to squeeze them both."

"Such an amazing story too," Juliet said.

_You have no idea_ , Max thought.

"...best friends as kids," Juliet continued, "then finding each other again after Chloe gets shot. Max being in the bathroom at the same time. Chloe wakes up to Max's face in the hospital. Man, I hope they agree to let me write up a piece about this after they make it official."

"Mmhm," Dana said.

Max couldn't tell but she guessed they were touching up make-up or something in front of the mirror before class. She also didn't want to draw attention to herself so she sat silently.

_Apparently this is my life_ , Max thought, _quietly overhearing things in bathrooms._

"I noticed that you didn't mention the thing to Max," Juliet said.

"What thing?" Dana said.

"You know," Juliet said, her voice dropping, "the thing that Rachel asked you to do."

_What?_ Max thought, leaning closer to the stall door.

"Ugh, I wasn't even supposed to tell _you_ about that," Dana said, "hell, I don't even know why I did it...I probably would've forgotten about it entirely if she hadn't been so insistent. She was super clear that it was a 'no matter what' thing. Supposed to be kept a secret, too. I do feel kind of silly since, all things considered, there probably wasn't any reason to do it but...it was actually the last thing she ever asked of me."

They were silent for a moment.

"Anyways, why would I tell Max?" Dana continued.

"Well...it kinda sorta has to do with her, right? Coincidental of course, but still," Juliet said.

"I guess," Dana said, "but Rachel never even knew Max...so I don't really feel like telling her. Besides, I have no idea what was in the envelope."

"Really? You didn't look?" Juliet said loudly.

"No!" Dana said, "Rachel trusted me...and she said that it was a big deal."

"What do you think it was all about?" Juliet said.

"Honestly," Dana said, "I think it was probably some big prank or a party or something that she was planning. I overheard Justin at one point talking about doing something secret for her too. Maybe she was preparing for something big and fun and was working on it up until...up until she passed."

"Yeah, I could see that happening," Juliet said, "remember what she pulled just before Halloween last year?"

Dana laughed, "holy shit yes, that was amazing. I still laugh my ass off every time I look at a Sprite can. And you _still_ can't show Victoria a pool noodle without her shrieking."

"Classic, just classic," Juliet said.

The pair left the bathroom.

_What was_ that _all about?_ Max thought, _what was Rachel doing? First the thing with Justin and Trevor and now this? Maybe Dana's right and it was just some elaborate prank or event she was planning for...but then why did the doe lead me to Justin and Trevor earlier?_

Max's phone buzzed and she jumped, nearly falling off of the toilet seat.

She grabbed her phone and saw texts from Chloe:

**Chloe** : hey dude  
**Chloe** : could you do me a solid?  
**Chloe** : go back like two minutes and text me no mustache jokes  
**Chloe** : nice guy but did not like the mustache joke  
**Chloe** : actually want a chance at this job  
**Max** : What did you say to him?!  
**Max** : Nevermind.  
**Max** : Do I just say no mustache jokes?  
**Chloe** : ya just that  
**Chloe** : trust me I'll get it  
**Max** : Okay  
**Chloe** : max u r the best  
**Chloe** : luv u forever  
**Max** : I will remember that you said that (^_^)  
**Chloe** : really? emoji?

Max rewound. Everything around her became unfocused and she heard Dana and Juliet come back into the bathroom in reverse. She kept rewinding until they left again then stopped. She quickly silenced her phone and started texting as Dana and Juliet came in again.

**Max** : Hey Chloe  
**Max** : No mustache jokes  
**Chloe** : what?  
**Max** : Message from the future: no mustache jokes  
**Chloe** : …  
**Chloe** : oh shit I see  
**Chloe** : too bad  
**Chloe** : comedy gold there  
**Chloe** : dude u r the best  
**Max** : I know.  
**Max** : You told me.  
**Chloe** : when?  
**Chloe** : oh right duh  
**Chloe** : i feel at a disadvantage  
**Max** : You also said you'll love me forever.  
**Chloe** : that's heavy  
**Max** : And that you'll treat me to breakfast at the Two Whales every morning for the next month.  
**Chloe** : no thats bullshit  
**Max** : And that you're going to listen to every piece of music I suggest.  
**Chloe** : no! too much hipster  
**Max** : And that you think of me, like, all the time.  
**Chloe** : dude thats actually true  
**Chloe** : especially in the shower  
**Max** : O.o  
**Max** : Bye I have class!  
**Chloe** : ha! win!

Max waited for Dana and Juliet to leave again before making her way to Math Lab, a wide grin on her face. Anything involving Chloe made everything else better.


	7. The Prescott Factor

A little over an hour later, Max sat down on the steps in front of the main building. She'd finished her lab assignment early and texted Chloe as soon as she got out of class. However, she had to wait:

**Max** : Hey Chloe! Out of class early!  
**Chloe** : shit  
**Chloe** : im at home  
**Chloe** : need to find something  
**Chloe** : be there soon  
**Max** : What are you looking for?  
**Chloe** : id ruin it if i told you  
**Chloe** : very important tho  
**Max** : Important for what?  
**Chloe** : supposed to interrogate nathan not me  
**Max** : Have to practice.  
**Chloe** : practice on someone else  
**Chloe** : kate  
**Chloe** : find out if her rabbit eats people  
**Chloe** : ooh no do warren  
**Chloe** : find out if he and brooke sealed the deal  
**Max** : What?  
**Chloe** : done the thing  
**Chloe** : the horizontal tango  
**Chloe** : the in n out  
**Max** : I get it I get it  
**Chloe** : moving the bed up against the wall  
**Chloe** : oh okay  
**Chloe** : wasnt sure  
**Max** : I think I'll skip the practice and save the interrogation for Nathan.

Max put her phone in her pocket, chuckling, and set her bag off to the side. She pulled out her journal and scribbled down the events of the day. She wanted to fully remember the antics at lunch...as well as what Dana and Juliet had said about Rachel's mysterious tasks.

_Maybe_ Rachel _is somehow responsible for Chloe's survival_ , Max thought, _maybe she did something that had some effect on Nathan...or Chloe? Having people...move things and envelopes? But wait, that doesn't pan out...it would've been months ago when she asked them to do those things. Rachel would have had to have been a time-traveller too...or somehow see into the future. And if that were the case, she'd probably be here today. And I can't imagine the see-through doe somehow taking bullets out of a gun..._

Max finished with her journal and glanced around. A group of younger students was staring up at a frisbee stuck in a tree. Max took out her camera and snapped a picture.

_Capturing the moment between realization and action_ , she thought, _when everyone's realized that something's gone wrong but no one's thought to do anything yet._

It reminded her of Kate on the roof. Almost everyone had been standing below, doing nothing but recording it on their phones, talking, or staring. Almost no one had taken any action to try to help Kate.

_But_ I _did something_ , Max thought, _I took action to save Kate. I have to wonder though...if I didn't have my powers, wouldn't I have been like everyone else, standing below, just watching? After all, that's how I always was...don't interfere, just observe, don't rock the boat. I guess it's a lot easier to rock the boat when you know that if you capsize it, you can just go back and it'll be right side up again._

"Maximus!" Warren's voice called out from behind.

Max turned around and smiled at Warren, who walked over and sat next to her.

"Hi Warren," she said, "you get out early too?"

"Yep," he said, "Brooke is doing some extra work so I just came out here to chill before the next class."

"Me too," Max said, "well, er, not exactly since my next class is temporarily out of order."

"Oh, right," Warren said, cringing.

Max was suddenly reminded of the last time Warren and her had sat here together: an unexpected eclipse isn't something you easily forget.

"Yeah," Max said, shaking the thought, "I can't wait until we get a new teacher. Photography's what I came here for so it sucks to be missing out. Although I'll definitely take having a few weeks without a teacher over having that psycho on the loose."

She started gently rubbing one of her wrists.

"That guy is so messed up," Warren said and Max could hear real anger behind his voice, "what he did to Kate...and to so many others. I just can't...I thought he was a cool guy. So messed up."

Max could see Warren's fist clenching and it reminded her of Warren taking on Nathan...twice. Warren had physically faced someone older and stronger...someone with a rich and powerful family, too.

_I guess I did that too...taking on someone older and seemingly stronger_ , Max thought, _Jefferson had me taped to that chair in his bunker but I still beat him. He thought he had all of the power...all of the control. But I did; I still do._

"Mr. Jefferson was a master of guile and deception," Max said, "He had everyone fooled. I respected him. I even...had a tiny crush on him, if I'm honest. I'm pretty sure most of his class did too. That's how he operated: charm and confidence. Lure people in, gain their trust. He had the Prescotts bankrolling him and he had his pick of young models to drug up."

_Actually, I still don't understand why the Prescotts were funding Jefferson_ , Max thought, _was he really just that much of a charmer?_

"Well, I just know that I want to punch him right in his stupid face," Warren said.

"You sound just like Chloe," Max said.

"I will definitely take that as a compliment," Warren said with a smile.

A familiar battered old pick-up pulled in front of the school.

"Speak of the devil," Warren said.

Max's phone buzzed.

**Chloe** : yo dude  
**Chloe** : im outside blackwell  
**Chloe** : lets timesmash a prescott

"Is that her texting you? I guess she doesn't see us," Warren said.

"Nope, she doesn't," Max said. She began typing.

**Max** : I see yoooou.  
**Max** : Can you see meeee?

Chloe peered around from inside her truck and gave a rude gesture when she saw Max and Warren. They could see her typing rapidly on her phone.

**Chloe** : creeper  
**Chloe** : tell warren hes a creeper too  
**Chloe** : and ask him if hes played tetris with brooke

"Chloe wants me to tell you that you're a creeper," Max said.

"What?!" Warren said, "how so?"

"She called me one too," Max said, "she didn't notice us sitting here and is taking out her embarrassment by calling us names."

"Healthy," Warren said.

"She also wants to know if you've...played Tetris with Brooke?" Max said, confused.

"That's a weird question," Warren said, "but no, we haven't played it together...hell, I haven't played it in years. And I don't know if I've ever even seen a multiplayer version."

"Yeah, I have no idea why...oh dammit, Chloe!" Max said. She'd just looked at her phone again.

**Chloe** : TETRIS  
**Chloe** : you know...fitting pieces together  
**Chloe** : to get the highest SCORE

"What?" Warren said.

"She, uh, meant something other than Tetris the game," Max said.

"I don't get it," Warren said, "what…"

His eyes went wide and he turned a deep shade of red.

"See you later, Warren," Max said, standing up quickly and patting him gently on the shoulder, "sorry about that!"

Max hurried over to Chloe's truck and got in.

"Did you ask?" Chloe said.

"Yes," Max said, glaring at her.

"And?" Chloe said, her eyes sparkling.

"And it was pretty hilarious, actually," Max said, her glare subsiding, "you got both of us there."

"Perfect," Chloe said.

"He didn't answer though," Max said.

"That's okay," Chloe said, "what they do with each other's bits is their bidness. I just wanted to see what would happen."

"Well, with that out of the way," Max said, "did you find the oh-so important thing you were looking for at home?"

"Oh yes," Chloe said. She turned around and fumbled around beside her seat, lifting something to her face. When she turned back, she was wearing a pair of mirrored aviators.

"Check it," Chloe said, "I am so ready to be bad cop. Punk bad cop."

"Are you actually going to wear those in to talk to Nathan?" Max said.

"Are you kidding?" Chloe said, "these are intimidating as fuck. Going to play some fucking mind games with that asshole. Have to start with the appearance."

"Chloe, never change," Max said.

Chloe smiled and started the drive towards the jail.

**. . . . .**

They arrived in front of the Arcadia Bay Police Department and Chloe let out a long breath.

"You going to be okay with this?" Max said.

"Yeah," Chloe said, "...although it's not going to be fun to see his stupid face again. After getting drugged by him, shot by him...and after knowing what he did to Rachel."

Max put a hand on Chloe's knee.

Chloe turned and said, "if I punch him in the face, you'll rewind?"

"Of course," Max said.

"And you won't spare any details when you tell me about it later?" Chloe said.

"Nope," Max said, "I'll tell you everything."

"Okay," Chloe said, "I'm good to go."

"Er...rewound punches aside, you should be prepared that this will probably seem pretty weird on your end," Max said.

An eyebrow poked up from behind Chloe's aviators.

"From your perspective," Max said, "we're going to walk in there, ask a mundane question or two, and then leave. It will seem pretty lame."

"I figured as much," Chloe said, "is there anyway you can, I don't know, tell me how many times you've rewound each time you do it?" Chloe asked.

Max thought for a moment.

"I'll tap you on the knee. Number of taps is how many times I've rewound," Max said.

"Awesomesauce," Chloe said.

They got out of the truck and walked into the police station. Max felt nervous and tried to shake it off.

_I literally can't fuck this up_ , Max thought, _if I make any mistakes, I just rewind. I've done this plenty of times before: start a conversation, find out something important, go back, and then use that information to get more._

They signed in at the front desk. The officer in the front apologetically told them that she'd need to search them and hold any recording devices. It was a standard policy...but it was also being rigidly monitored by the Prescotts' lawyers. Chloe rolled her eyes.

The officer patted Max down and took her phone and bag behind the desk. She then patted Chloe down.

"Whoa," Chloe said, "watch it there, Jen. I think you should be buying me dinner first."

"Chloe," the officer, Jen, said, "you've used that same joke every single time you've been here. Keep doing that," her voice lowered to a whisper, "and if you're in here again with a baggie of weed like last time, I won't conveniently not notice it."

"Yes ma'am," Chloe said with a smile.

The officer turned to Max after taking Chloe's phone.

"Watch out for this one," she said, gesturing at Chloe.

"I do my best," Max said with a grin.

Jen made a call to the back and another officer guided Max and Chloe into a small room in the back. It had a window on one side, a lonely camera in a corner of the ceiling, and a small table with four chairs.

The officer left and Chloe leaned against the wall.

"Lame," she said, "they don't even have a one-way mirror."

"You're telling me you haven't been back here before?" Max said, smiling.

"Dude, come on," Chloe said, "I never got legit arrested. I've just been in the front...a lot, getting told off."

"You're really damaging your bad girl image here," Max said.

"Oh, I'll show you my bad girl side," Chloe said.

Before Max could respond, the door opened.

Nathan walked first into the room, slouching and wearing a tan prison uniform, the officer right behind him.

Max was struck by Nathan's expression. He looked...confused. He eyed Max and Chloe warily and sat heavily into one of the chairs.

"Alright," the officer said, "you have twenty minutes. I'll be right outside that window there. Any problems and just shout or knock. No funny business." That last comment was delivered squarely at Chloe.

He stepped out of the room, closed the door, and was soon visible on the other side of the window.

"So what the fuck do you want?" Nathan said.

Chloe spun a chair around across from Nathan and sat, saying nothing.

Max pulled a chair next to Chloe's and sat.

"To talk," Max said.

"Then talk," Nathan said.

Max waited a few moments to give herself a buffer spot for rewinding. The clock struck 2:42.

"Why did you have a gun at school?" Max asked.

Nathan snorted and said, "because I could."

"Why did you have it in the bathroom with you that day?" Max said.

Nathan looked directly at Max with narrowed eyes. He paused.

"Because this bitch," Nathan said, nodding towards Chloe, "was going to try to blackmail me. She needed to know who was boss. She needed to know who was in control."

"Yeah," Chloe said, "you had so much control that you fucking shot me. Genius, you are."

"Fuck you," Nathan said, "like I said, no one would've missed your punk ass."

Sudden anger boiled in Max and she stood up, placing her hands on the table. Nathan leaned back.

"No Nathan, fuck _you_ ," she said, "there are a lot of people who care about Chloe. A lot. You know how many people are talking about _you_ at Blackwell. No one. You know how many times I've heard someone say that they miss _you_. Zero."

Chloe's mouth was hanging open.

Nathan leaned forward again and said, "wow, I had no idea you were so gay for the blue haired bitch."

"Go ahead, call her that again," Max said.

"This dumb bitch actually thought that she cou…" Nathan started, smirking.

Max interrupted, "Chloe, please punch this asshole."

"Are you serious?" Chloe asked and, when Max nodded, continued, "fuckin' sweet, man."

She stood up as Max sat down.

Nathan looked confused and said, "what? You can't."

"This is for Rachel, you shithead," Chloe said, swinging her fist into Nathan's cheek, hard.

Nathan toppled over onto the floor, crying out. Chloe flailed her hand, gasping in pain.

"Shit! Ow!" Chloe said, "that really fucking hurt. I've never punched anyone before. Ow!"

The officer outside hurried towards the door. Max sighed and rewound.

_That went well_ , Max thought sarcastically as time crawled backwards around her, _first round and I already let things get violent. I really shouldn't have asked Chloe to punch him...I shouldn't let anger drive me like that. It's not entirely Nathan's fault that he's here. But hell,_ I _wanted to punch that smirk off of his stupid face. Good thing I can rewind._

Max stopped. The clock struck 2:42. She tapped Chloe on the knee once.

"You brought a gun to the bathroom when you were meeting with Chloe," Max said.

"No shit, Sherlock," Nathan said.

Max thought back to her discussion with David.

"Why didn't you have the safety on?" Max said.

Nathan paused, narrowing his eyes.

_This is weird_ , Max thought, _he keeps pausing and being careful with certain questions. There's something I'm missing here._

"My mistake," Nathan said, "the thing's a fucking toy. I must've just left it off."

"Yes, a gun's a toy," Chloe said, "what a brilliant perspective. Real mature and responsible. You know, I wave my gun around everywhere...restaurants, grocery stores, schools...safety off, of course. It's great. Shot four people yesterday but it was cool, no biggie, because it's just a toy. Oh well."

Nathan turned to Chloe.

"What's with the glasses?" he said, "your eyes all fucked up from smoking too much pot?"

"No, dipshit," Chloe said, leaning forward over the table, "it's because now _I'm_ in charge."

"You're fucking crazy," Nathan said.

"Nathan," Max said, and he turned back to Max, "why did you have your finger on the trigger?"

"Is that some kind of fucking joke?" he said, "it's a gun; the trigger is how you use it."

"Well," Max said, remembering again what David had said, "you're not supposed to have your finger on the trigger unless you actually intending on using it."

Nathan looked at Max very carefully and Max got the sense again that more gears were turning in Nathan's head than there should have been.

"Well I'm sorry, Miss Gun Safety," Nathan said, "next time I'll follow all the rules. Or just fucking shoot the bitch first."

Chloe raised two middle fingers at him.

"Why were there only two bullets in the gun?" Max said, pushing a surge of anger away.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Nathan said.

"Do you have problems counting?" Chloe said. She held up the three bullets on her necklace and said, "let me help: one, two, and three. Not so hard, is it?"

Nathan clenched his fists but calmed himself and turned back to Max.

"What do you mean there were two bullets?" Nathan said, "I always kept the clip full."

"When was the last time you checked?" Max said.

"Why the fuck does that matter?" Nathan said.

"Just answer the fucking question," Chloe said.

"Maybe I've had enough of your insane questions," Nathan said, "I mean, what the fuck is this?"

"Please, Nathan," Max said as calmly as she could, "when did you last check?"

"The Friday before," he said, still glaring at Chloe, "I always checked it on Friday nights."

"And you didn't leave only two bullets in the gun?" Max said.

"No, it was full," he said.

"And you didn't notice if the gun was...lighter that day?" Max said.

"No...I...what the fuck is with these questions?" Nathan said, "I didn't carry the fucking thing around all the time. You expect me to know exactly how much the damn thing weighs? I'm done with this."

He reached behind him and knocked sharply on the window.

Max rewound. The clock struck 2:42 and she tapped twice on Chloe's knee.

"You were in the bathroom with Chloe," Max said, "you shot her. You missed. Why?"

Nathan sat thinking for a moment, staring at Max.

"If I wanted this bitch dead," Nathan finally said, "I would've just shot her right in the head. I could've done it. But I didn't. _She_ fucking pushed me and the gun went off. It's her own damn fault she got shot."

Max saw Chloe's head tilt back; the aviators hid it but Max was sure Chloe had just rolled her eyes.

"You are so full of shit," Chloe said.

"But why did you hit her side?" Max said before Nathan could reply, "why not her stomach or somewhere else?"

"You think I was aiming? Weren't you listening? I got fucking pushed and the gun went off," Nathan said.

"Did you slip at all? Did you trip on anything?" Max said.

"Weird fucking questions," Nathan said.

Max and Chloe just stared.

"Okay fine, I'll play," Nathan said, "no, I didn't slip on anything. I remember the floor being fucking dry because my hands were all over it until her blood was everywhere."

The thought of that made Max's heart ache; she squeezed Chloe's knee.

"And no, I didn't trip on anything," Nathan continued, "there was a torn up photo on the floor; nothing else. The only thing that happened was that she pushed me. My arm went off to the side. Bang."

"Were you on drugs?" Max asked.

"That's between me and my doctors," Nathan said, his eyes narrowed.

"You know what I mean," Max said.

"No," Nathan said, "I didn't take the stuff, only gave it out."

"Yeah," Chloe said, rage in her voice, "to knock girls out so you could fucking kidnap them for your psycho douche buddy."

"You know," Nathan said, an angry smirk on his face, "there's some poetry to the whole thing. I gave you too little and gave Rachel too much."

Chloe stood up so rapidly that her chair fell over. She started towards Nathan and he looked alarmed.

"Chloe, wait," Max said.

"No Max, not for this fucker," Chloe said. Max could hear tears in her voice.

"No Chloe," Max said, wincing, "I mean don't _punch_ him; you'll hurt your hand. You might want to try something else."

Chloe turned back with a look of disbelief. Max shrugged. Chloe walked around the table and Nathan shrunk back.

"You...you can't," he said, banging his fist against the window.

The officer was rushing around to the door but Chloe had already swung her hand in a ferocious slap against Nathan's face. The sound of the impact echoed in the small room. Chloe swung her hand back and slapped him across the other side of the face even harder. The officer rushed into the room and ran towards Chloe.

Max rewound. The clock struck 2:42 and Max tapped Chloe on the knee three times. She saw Chloe's eyebrow raise.

_Okay_ , Max thought, _two things: one, it sounds like Nathan didn't realize that there were only two bullets in the gun. Make note of that. And two, he's oddly careful about_ why _he had the gun and why he was so careless with it. I'm not sure how deep I can dig with that but it seems important. And I still need to find out how to get to his gun in the past._

Nathan was starting to look uncomfortable and Max realized that she'd been zoning out into her thoughts. She decided to be very direct.

"Nathan," she said, "there's a safe in your room; did you keep your gun in it?"

Nathan looked very confused.

"What the fuck?" Nathan said, "how the fuck did you know that I have a safe in my room? Did you fucking break into my room?"

"I overheard it," Max said.

"Yeah, sure," Nathan said, "and why the fuck are you even asking? They say _I'm_ messed up."

"Would you indulge me?" Max said.

Nathan sat there and Max figured she'd need to rewind again.

But Nathan said, "yeah, what the hell. I kept it in the safe _sometimes_. No one knew about it so I just kept it in a coat pocket most of the time."

Max nodded.

_Go for broke?_ she thought.

"What's the combination for your safe?" Max said.

Nathan laughed.

"I guess your girlfriend here has been getting you the good stuff," Nathan said, "you _must_ be high as shit, Max Crackfield. You want me to give you a combination...to my safe...that is sitting open in my room with nothing in it."

"Does the number 57 ring a bell?" Max said.

Nathan suddenly straightened.

"How the fuck?" he said, "if you feminazis broke into my place and did anything to my Master Photographs, I swear I…"

Nathan suddenly broke off, realization dawning on his face. Max couldn't help but smile.

" _Master_ Photographs?" Chloe said, smirking, "dude your ego is so fuck…"

"You bitch," Nathan interrupted, never taking his eyes off of Max, "you _did_ break into my dorm room. Fuck! I should've never agreed to talk to you you manipulative little…"

He stopped and turned to bang on the window.

Max sighed and rewound. The clock struck 2:42 and she tapped on Chloe's knee four times. Chloe raised an eyebrow and Max realized that her head was starting to hurt.

_Ugh_ , she thought, _can't do this forever_.

"Your so-called Master Photographs contain combinations and key-codes for your shit," Max said. She didn't make it a question.

"How the fuck do you know that?" Nathan said, his mouth dropping open, "you can't…"

He stopped and his brow furrowed in concentration. He suddenly looked worried.

"You're...you're messing with me somehow," Nathan said, "my dad...he…"

Max and Chloe both tilted their heads.

_Huh?_ Max thought, _what the hell is going on?_

Nathan suddenly lunged forward towards Max but Chloe was on her feet in an instant, shoving Nathan back across the table. The officer, hearing the commotion, started towards the door.

"Don't you _ever_ try something like that again, you piece of shit!" Chloe shouted, grabbing the fabric around Nathan's shoulders, "you will _never_ hurt her. Do you understand that? _Do you fucking understand that?_ "

_Holy shit_ , Max thought, her jaw dropping, _Chloe totally just bodyguarded me. I guess our childhood dreams are coming true...in a weird, fucked up way. And damn, Chloe, way to be my everyday hero._

The officer stepped into the room, shouting. Max rewound. The clock struck 2:42 and she tapped Chloe five times on the knee. Max's head was still hurting...but only a little; that last rewind was very short.

_Okay_ , Max thought, _I think I've gotten everything I'm going to get about the damn gun and Nathan's habits. Time to try a different approach._

"Nathan," Max said, "how's your family doing?"

"What?" Nathan said, "my family?"

"Yeah," Max said, "this whole thing can't be easy; finding out that a teacher at the school they give to so generously was secretly kidnapping girls to take drugged pictures of them? And, of course, that that same teacher was responsible for you ending up here."

Chloe looked like she wanted to throw up.

_Sorry, Chloe_ , Max thought, _time for me to be good cop_.

"I...yeah...that's...yeah," Nathan said.

Max waited.

"My...my parents are...out of town," Nathan said, "they visited me and then left to keep media attention away. I...don't even know where they are." Nathan looked away.

"What about your sister?" Max asked.

"I didn't think you knew I had a sister," Nathan said.

"You're the Prescotts," Max said, forcing what she hoped looked like a genuine smile, "everyone hears everything about you guys."

"Not everything," Nathan said quietly, "but yeah, I don't know what my sister knows yet...don't know if anyone's told her yet. My dad definitely won't until...until later, I'm sure."

"Why not?" Max said.

Nathan looked at her sharply.

_Something about his dad_ , Max thought, _there's something there._

"Because that's just the way it is," Nathan said.

"What is your dad like?" Max said.

"Why do you want to know?" Nathan said. His voice, which had been uncertain, was suddenly clear and under control.

"Curiosity, I guess," Max said, "I grew up around here too, remember."

"Why aren't you saying anything, punk bitch?" Nathan said to Chloe.

"Well, douchebag," Chloe said, "Max here is being good cop; I guess I'm supposed to be bad cop but I really just came here to fucking punch your face."

"Do you regret it?" Max said, before Nathan could reply.

"What?" Nathan asked.

"Do you regret it?" Max said again.

"Shooting _her_?" Nathan said, "I wouldn't fucking be here if I hadn't shot her. Of course...it wasn't supposed to go that way; not at all. So yeah, I do regret it, even if I don't give a shit about her."

Chloe responded with a middle finger.

"No, actually," Max said, "I mean do you regret everything with Jefferson? Do you regret what you did to Rachel?"

Nathan's face fell. He didn't say anything.

"Do you?" Chloe interjected, "do you even remember Rachel?"

"Of course I fucking remember Rachel," Nathan said, "and yeah, yeah of course I fucking regret it. What the fuck was I doing? Never in control. Never. I couldn't...Rachel didn't have to...it wasn't supposed to happen. She…"

To Max's surprise, Nathan started to cry. She and Chloe looked at one another. Chloe's eyebrows were raised and she lowered her aviators, looking over the top at Nathan, who was slumped over and sobbing.

"Dude," Chloe said, "maybe it's time to rewind. I'm feeling a tiny tiny bit of sorry for this asshole and I really don't want to."

Max nodded.

She rewound, leaving the crying Nathan behind.

_Alright, so despite sounding so blase before, Nathan_ does _have some serious regrets over what he's done; at least I have more proof of that now than just a phone message in an erased timeline. And there's_ definitely _something up with his father_ , Max thought, _I have to try to find out what's going on there._

The clock struck 2:42. Max tapped on Chloe's knee six times.

Max tried a variety of questions. She tried good cop, she tried bad cop. She tried to ease in and she tried to surprise him. Rewind after rewind and nothing. Nathan always, every time, shut down when the subject reached his father. It was a wall she couldn't pass. The ache in her head was getting sharper and sharper. And then, after tapping Chloe on the knee twenty one times and started to ask Nathan yet another set of questions, she felt warmth on her upper lip and Nathan laughed.

"Ha," he said, "Max Crackfield has been dipping too much into the powder."

"Shit," Max said, grabbing a wad of tissues out of her pocket and holding it to her nose.

"Max, are you okay?" Chloe said, putting an arm around her.

"Yeah," Max whispered, "a bit too much clock turning. I think we're done...just one more round to clear this up."

"Okay," Chloe said.

Max did a quick rewind back to 2:42. Pain lanced through her head but her nose didn't continue to bleed. She put her palm on Chloe's knee. Chloe raised an eyebrow but seemed to understand.

_Alright_ , Max thought, _make this simple; this one has to last._

"Nathan," Max said, "Chloe told me everything that happened and I just wanted to know: why didn't you just hand over some cash and be done with it? Why bring the gun? Did any of this have to happen?"

Nathan looked at her with narrowed eyes, just like with all of the other questions about why he'd acted the way he did on that day.

"I know you live in your little happy selfie-whore world, Max," Nathan finally said, "but in the real world, you don't just give some bitch cash because she tries to blackmail you. Things didn't go down like they were supposed to."

Chloe shook her head.

"How was it supposed to go down?" Max said.

Nathan paused again.

"The gun was supposed to scare her off," Nathan said, "scare her good so she wouldn't come asking for money or go to my family. Done."

"Couldn't you have done that with an unloaded gun...or with the safety on?" Max said. She'd already asked but figured it might be suspicious if she didn't follow up with that.

"My mistake," Nathan said after a moment.

"Yeah, no kidding," Chloe said, "you're full of those."

"What do you think of Mr. Jefferson?" Max said, getting in front of an angry outburst.

Nathan looked back and forth between Chloe and Max and seemed to decide to not escalate things with Chloe.

"I think he has a vision and a talent," Nathan said, "but it turns out that it was a fucked up vision and none of it was worth it."

"How did he draw you into it?" Max asked.

"I showed him my work, he liked it, thought he saw a little of what he did in it...went from there," Nathan said.

"Okay," Max said.

_I think I've tapped out this source_ , Max thought, _and I really don't want to delve too deeply into discussions about Jefferson...I should've asked about something more mundane. Oh well, better cover, I guess._

"Thanks for your time, Nathan," Max said, standing up.

Chloe stood up, looking disappointed.

_Sorry, Chloe_ , Max thought, _no punches for you this time._

"That's it?" Nathan said.

"Yeah," Max said, "I just...wanted to understand why."

Nathan nodded and seemed...relieved...and sad.

Max knocked on the door and the officer walked towards them.

Nathan looked up at Chloe.

"Nice shades," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Aww, fuck you very much," Chloe said, raising her middle finger.

Nathan scowled but didn't respond.

The officer led Nathan out first, asking Max and Chloe to stay.

"How many times?" Chloe asked.

"Twenty-two," Max said.

"Damn, do we need to do any more?" Chloe said.

"No, I think I got everything I'm going to get and my head hurts like hell," Max said.

"Oh shit," Chloe said, stepping over and placing a hand gently to the side of Max's head, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," Max said, putting her hand on Chloe's, "I just need a few minutes to clear my head."

"You're nose isn't, like, going to explode, is it?" Chloe said, "I remember you saying that you get some hella nasty nosebleeds sometimes."

"Already happened," Max said, "rewind twenty-one."

"Ah," Chloe said.

She paused for a moment then said, "so...what's the dirt and, more importantly, did you let me smack that fucker down?"

"I'll tell you once we're back outside," Max said, "but, spoiler alert, there was smacking."

"Yes!" Chloe said, grinning, "Max, you're the best."

"Could I get that in writing?" Max said.

Chloe chuckled.

The officer returned and led them out of the room. As they turned to leave, a calm voice drifted from a cell behind them, "hello Max."


	8. The Observer Effect

"Hello Max."

Max froze, an unpleasant prickling sensation climbing the back of her neck. She felt short of breath and her right hand crept towards her left wrist. A haziness seemed to fall over her senses. Light dimmed, sounds faded.

"Max," Chloe's voice broke through the haze. Max felt Chloe's hand on her shoulder and the sickening sensations began to fade. "Come on...you're okay. Just ignore him," Chloe said.

"Max, you can't ignore me that easily," Mr. Jefferson called out.

"Dude, seriously fuck off," Chloe snapped.

The officer next to them turned towards Jefferson with a grim expression and said, "back away, Mark."

The officer patted Max on her other shoulder and pointed the way out but Max said, "wait."

Both Chloe and the officer looked down at her.

"I…," Max started, then cleared her throat, "I want to talk to him."

"Max," Chloe said, "you don't have to do that."

"No, but I want to," Max said.

The officer hesitated before saying, "okay, come on back."

Jefferson, sitting on a short bench at the back of the cell, smiled as Max and Chloe came into view.

"Oh Max," Jefferson said, "it's so good to see you again."

"What do you want?" Max said.

"I just wanted to make sure that one of my best students is still working to meet her potential," Jefferson said, "you really do have talent, Max. A gift. I heard that they cancelled Blackwell's participation in the 'Everyday Heroes' contest. Very unfortunate...but I want to know: did you have a photo to submit? I would love to see it."

"Fuckin' creepy, man," Chloe said under her breath.

"I did have one," Max said, "but I tore it up."

"Why would you do that?" Jefferson said, his smile vanishing and his expression turning dark.

Max looked at the solid bars between her and Jefferson...he couldn't get to her. And with Chloe at her side, a police officer steps away, and her powers at her fingertips, Max actually felt...completely safe.

_He can't sneak up on me with a needle here_ , Max thought.

She looked Jefferson directly in the eye and said, "you know, the funny thing is that the photo I took would have won."

"I'm glad that you're finally gaining confidence in your work, Max," Jefferson said, "but you should never destroy a photo that you take. Would you tell me what it was? Describe it for me?"

"No," Max said, starting to turn away.

"You know," Jefferson said, "I was so looking forward to having you be my next subject."

Max clenched her fists and slowly turned back.

"Oh yes," Jefferson said, "you would have been so perfect. The plan was in place. At the party on Friday, I would have announced the contest winner. I had faith that it would be you, Max, I did...as long as you actually turned in a photo, of course. If you would have won, well, our time together in San Francisco would have been spectacular. I even had a perfect room picked out for our photo shoot. You wouldn't have remembered a thing, of course. And if you hadn't won the contest...well, we would have had the photo shoot right after the party in my dark room. Either way, I am certain that you would have been my masterpiece. I would have loved to have juxtaposed the resulting images against your selfies. The contrast would be stunning."

Max could feel Chloe trembling with anger next to her. Max, however, felt entirely calm, and she grabbed Chloe's hand, holding it firmly.

_He has words_ , Max thought, _but no power. And I'm sorry, Chloe...weirdly enough this is becoming harder on you than it is on me._

"Why me?" Max said, looking straight at Jefferson.

"Why you?" Jefferson said with a chuckle, "you're a wallflower, an observer, a little geek who keeps to herself. No drama. A true picture of innocence. I thought that Kate was perfect for my purposes...almost stereotypically so. But you? You're almost like a camera yourself, taking things in, exuding a childlike wonder. I've never encountered someone so perfect for my work. The work of capturing the mo..."

"I do not want to hear that shit again," Max said, interrupting and rolling her eyes.

"But Max," Jefferson said, his smile disappearing, "I'm trying to teach you, to explain the crucial role you would have played in my art."

"Art?" Max laughed, "you must be fucking kidding me."

"Max," Jefferson said, "you should listen…"

"No, Mark," Max said, "you're going to listen to _me_ now because _I'm_ going to explain what you were doing."

Jefferson began to say something but Max continued over him, "your photos, down in that bunker, were not art. You can spin whatever bullshit you want about capturing the moment where innocence evolves into...I don't even remember what the fuck it was, that's how stupid it is. It's all just an excuse anyways."

"How did you…," Jefferson began.

Max cut him off again, "it's just flowery language to cover up the fact that you were acting out a demented fetish. That's it. No art, no style, no deeper meaning. Just a power trip, feeding into your outsized ego. You weren't taking photos of some abstract concept, you were taking photos of a fucked up corner of yourself. They were a reflection, Mark, a reflection of the real you: a monster. You were taking selfies, Mark. Sick, perverted selfies. And you do _not_ have a gift for that."

Jefferson stared at her.

"No, Max, no," he said, his voice faltering, "you don't…"

"No, Mark," Max said, "I've heard your explanations. I've heard you monologue away like a fucking Bond villain. You must just love the sound of your own voice. But here's the thing you need to understand: the only thing that your fucked up photos will be used for is evidence. No one will _ever_ see them as anything more than that. They're just a pile of pictures showing that you're a criminal."

Jefferson shook his head.

"Max," he said, "the world will see the genius of what I…"

"Remember that context is important, Mark," Max said, "and after what you did to Kate? To Rachel? To all the others? To me?" Chloe's hand tightened around Max's.

"After all of that?" Max continued, "the druggings, the kidnappings, the needles, the tape, the lights? _That's_ what people will see in your photos... _all_ of them. _That's_ what you will be forever remembered for, Mark Jefferson. The creepy pervert who drugged high school girls to take pictures of them in his secret bunker. And who got one of them killed."

"That was an accident," Jefferson said.

"I think we both know the truth, Mark," Max said, stepping right up to the bars, "you had no problem with killing people. None at all. Didn't even matter to you. You shot my best friend without a second thought and didn't even blink at the idea of killing me."

"What are you talking about?" he said, his eyes wide.

"Like I said, that part doesn't matter. You don't give a shit about peoples' lives," Max said, "but I do know the thing that will get to you, the thing that will haunt you. You know what it is, Mark? It's that your work is worthless now. Everything you've ever done is tainted. No one will touch it, no one will appreciate it. They've already taken down every single one of your photographs at Blackwell and I know they're doing it all over the world too. They're pulling your books off of shelves. Mark Jefferson the photographer is now Mark Jefferson the psychopath. _That_ is all you are now."

Max stepped back from the bars.

Jefferson's mouth was slightly open, his brow furrowed, and his eyes empty. In that moment, Max knew she had finally beaten him. She had no delusions that the effects from her time in the Dark Room would leave her any time soon, but she'd treasure this win forever.

Jefferson turned towards Chloe for the first time and said, "and what about you? Are you…"

"Fuck off," Chloe said, "don't even fucking talk to me."

Without another word, they turned away and followed the officer down the hall.

_I revealed a bit too much there_ , Max thought, _and I hate seeing Chloe that angry and hurt. I'd better rewind this. As much as I want what I said to really stick with that asshole, it's better that this disappears. Maybe someday I'll come back and throw it at him again._

Max began rewinding. But as time reversed around her, she realized that if she rewound back to before the officer had shown her and Chloe out of the room, everyone (including the cameras scattered about) would see her vanish from next to Chloe and appear out in the hall.

_Oh well_ , Max thought, cringing, _I'll cross that bridge when I come to it._

She continued rewinding until just before the guard had returned to show them out.

When she stopped, she was surprised to find herself back in the room with Chloe.

"What the hell?" Max said aloud.

"Huh?" Chloe said.

But Max shook her head as the officer returned and led them out. As they turned towards the front of the station...

"Hello Max," Jefferson said.

Max felt Chloe tense beside her.

Max grabbed Chloe's hand and smiled up at her. She then turned towards Jefferson and simply raised a middle finger at him. Chloe let go of Max's hand and raised both middle fingers at Jefferson.

Max ignored whatever reply Jefferson made and they followed the officer to the front.

**. . . . .**

With their possessions returned, Max and Chloe left the station and hopped into the truck. Max leaned back against the seat, letting out a long breath and closing her eyes.

"You were right," Chloe said, "that _was_ weird. Seemed like nothing happened at all."

Max grunted.

"You sure you're okay?" Chloe said, putting a hand on Max's knee.

"Yeah," Max said, "just a lot to unpack. My head's okay though."

"That's good," Chloe said, "it kind of freaks me out, the whole headaches and nosebleeds thing."

"Doctors recommend no more than ten time rewinds per day. Side effects include headaches, nosebleeds, and mega tornadoes," Max said.

"Don't forget confused Chloes," Chloe said.

Max grunted again. Chloe scooted closer to Max and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Okay," Max finally said; Chloe withdrew her arm and scooted back to face Max, "the details. First of all, Nathan is so seriously fucked up. I hate him and feel bad for him at the same time."

"I'll take just one of those please," Chloe said.

"We made him cry," Max said, "you asked me to rewind because you were actually starting to feel sorry for him."

"Shit," Chloe said.

"Anyways, he was super confused about the whole two bullets thing," Max said, "so I think that's the key. It was the only question about the whole incident that he responded to immediately. So I think someone must have removed the bullets. Maybe it was another version of me and maybe I'm supposed to do it. I don't know."

Chloe nodded and then said, "wait, what do you mean it was the only thing he responded to _immediately_?"

"That was one of the really strange things," Max said, "he was very cautious with _everything_ else about the incident. Every time I asked him about why he came to the bathroom or why the gun's safety was off or why he didn't just give you the money, he paused, thought about it carefully, and then delivered a response."

"Oh hey, I was there for that last one," Chloe said, "and yeah, you're right. But what if it's just something his lawyer or rich daddy coached him on? Something to keep him from incriminating himself or some shit?"

"Maybe," Max said, "it just...it seemed like he was weirdly suspicious and almost _too_ careful. I'd think that if he'd memorized a bunch of things from his lawyer, he would have just rattled them off."

"Hmm, good point," Chloe said, "anything else that might shed some light on it?"

"Yeah, actually," Max said, "daddy Prescott."

"Oh, what about him?" Chloe said.

"That's the _other_ crazy thing," Max said, "I couldn't get _anything_ about his father. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Most of what I did get, I got in the first few tries...and then spent the next fourteen, fifteen times trying to get him to tell us anything more about his father. It seemed important and I just couldn't get anywhere."

Chloe frowned, "so Scrooge McPrescott may have something to do with...something?"

Max snorted, "that's about how far I've gotten."

"Well okay, we'll put that on the back burner," Chloe said, "anything else?"

"A couple of things," Max said, "I found out that he kept his gun in his room safe, but only sometimes. And that the combination has something to do with his so-called Master Photography that I overheard Victoria talking about."

"Impressive," Chloe said, "how the hell did you get that?"

"I'm very clever," Max said with a grin.

"I believe it, Super Max," Chloe said.

"I also found out that he last checked the number of bullets in his gun on the Friday before last," Max said, "so if I do need to go back and do something about this, I have my window of time and I actually have most of the information I think I'd need. I haven't thought about it too much yet but I know that I have photos from that weekend. And as long as I have a photo of somewhere close enough, I _think_ I can find a way to get Victoria's key, get to Nathan's room, and remove the bullets. The last piece is the safe combination."

"Geez, Max," Chloe said quietly, "you're really serious about this."

"You're my number one priority, Chloe," Max said, her heart aching as she remembered the last time she'd said that, atop a rain-lashed cliffside, "I'll do whatever I need to do."

She put her hand atop Chloe's.

"This is so crazy," Chloe said, her voice thick.

Max couldn't see Chloe's eyes behind the aviators but Chloe turned and raised her hand to her face to wipe something away.

"I just wish I could do for you what you do for me," Chloe said.

"Actually," Max said, "you sort of did."

Chloe's eyebrows raised and Max told her about Nathan's lunge and Chloe's response.

"It was just like we dreamed when we were kids," Max said, "you were totally my bodyguard. It was amazing!"

Chloe laughed and said, "yeah, that's me; Chloe the badass bodyguard. You're damned right I won't let that douchebag hurt you. So was it just the one smackathon?"

"Er, no," Max said, "there were a couple. I would recommend that you not try to punch anyone again though. You really hurt your hand the first time and I had to stop you the next time to tell you to do something else."

"You did?" Chloe said, "but it would have gotten rewound anyways."

"I just hate seeing you hurt," Max said.

"Holy shit Max, you're so adorable," Chloe said, "so adorable that it hurts...so you'd better tone it down."

Max playfully punched Chloe in the shoulder.

"Anything else crazy happen?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, we went and had a chat with Jefferson," Max said, her smile fading.

"Fuck," Chloe said, " _why_?"

"It actually helped," Max said.

"Really?" Chloe said.

"Yeah," Max said, "we had to listen to a bunch of his bullshit but then I totally stomped on his ego. It was amazing; I can't even tell you how satisfying it was to look him right in the eyes and lay it all out. And he couldn't do a damn thing about it."

"Oh man," Chloe said, "I wish I could have heard that."

"I'm sorry," Max said, "I kind of spilled some time travel beans so I had to rewind. Also, as we talked to him, you got...well, I don't know if I've ever...felt you get like that before."

"You were feeling me up while talking to Jefferson? That's just bad timing, Max," Chloe said, grinning.

"Dork," Max said, "no, I could just feel you...shaking with anger next to me."

Chloe's smile vanished and she was silent for a moment.

"After what he did to you," Chloe said, "and after what they both did to Rachel...I just...Max, I've never mentioned this to you seriously, but if you gave me a gun and put me in front of them, I would probably pull the trigger. Maybe not Nathan...maybe. But Jefferson? Yeah, I'd do it. That fucker is pure evil."

Max put a hand on Chloe's shoulder.

"You don't...you don't hate me for saying that, do you?" Chloe said.

"No, Chloe," Max said, "this whole thing is messed up. And I...I saw him shoot you Chloe. He had no remorse. No emotion about it at all. He just shot you. I don't think I could ever really hurt someone, Chloe...but I don't know if I'd do anything to stop something bad from happening to him."

Chloe nodded and said, "you know, I can't help but think that Rachel might be disappointed in me for thinking this way. She was always so loving towards everyone; so forgiving. And maybe that's why I worry that _you_ would look down on me for this."

"I don't get it," Max said, "she sounds a lot like Kate."

"Rachel was very similar to _you_ , Max," Chloe said, "an eye for art, a...I don't know...way of looking at the world...full of wonder. She always reminded me of you. Maybe that's why I...why her and I became such good friends."

"I don't look down on you Chloe, ever," Max said, "just because I wouldn't do things your way doesn't mean I'd give you shit for it. At least, not serious shit. And if Rachel really was like me, I don't think she would either."

Chloe smiled and took off the aviators. Her eyes were a bit red and there were lines of worry and sadness...but Max could see Chloe's smile shining from those eyes. It made her smile too. And with all of this talk of Rachel...

"There's something I should tell you," Max said, "about Rachel…"

She paused and Chloe looked at her expectantly.

"You're going to think I'm crazy," Max said, "but I think that Rachel's...spirit is still around...and I think she's been helping us out."

"Huh...normally I'd say that you're trippin' balls," Chloe said, "but since crazy shit is the new normal here, lay it on me. Why do you think she's still around?"

"Well," Max said, shuffling in her seat, "I've seen a ghostly doe a few times over the past several days...in both timelines."

"A...ghostly doe? Like a deer?" Chloe said.

"Dude, you know the song," Max said.

"Yeah yeah but how is Rachel a deer?" Chloe said.

"I think it's her spirit animal," Max said.

"Spirit animal," Chloe said.

"Yeah, mine's a doe too, at least according to Samuel," Max said.

"According to Samuel," Chloe said.

"Are you just going to repeat what I'm saying?" Max said.

"Trying to processing this," Chloe said, "you're talking about Blackwell Samuel? The Samuel that talks to squirrels and shit?"

"Yeah," Max said.

Chloe raised an eyebrow.

"Oh come on, Chloe," Max said, "if there was one thing you'd actually believe Samuel about, wouldn't it be weird shit like this?"

"Okay okay, point taken," Chloe said, "but I'm still not understanding the connection to Rachel."

"I wasn't sure either," Max said, "and to be honest I'm still not sure. But the doe showed up in my visions of the tornado, guiding me up to the lighthouse. It also appeared right over the spot where Rachel was buried, back in the old timeline before we knew she was there."

Chloe's mouth hung open.

"And then," Max said, "I saw it again a couple of days ago. It led me over to Trevor and Justin as they were talking about something that Rachel had asked them to do."

"Wait, what?" Chloe said, "what did she ask them to do?"

"I don't know," Max said, "they wouldn't tell me. And in the bathroom earlier today, I overheard Dana and Juliet talking about something similar. Rachel had apparently asked Dana to...put an envelope somewhere, I think...I have what they said written in my journal. Anyways, they all treated these...assignments as super secret. These were apparently some of the last things that Rachel ever asked of them so they have a kind of reverence towards them. Did...did she ever mention anything like this to you?"

"No," Chloe said, "nothing at all. Any idea what it's all about?"

"Not really," Max said, "Dana seemed to think that Rachel might have been preparing some kind of grand prank or party or something and was laying out some of the pieces in advance."

"Sounds like something she'd do," Chloe said with a sad smile.

"Well," Max said, "it's yet another mystery for the back burner."

"I'm still not sure I believe this whole spirit animal thing," Chloe said, "but the idea that Rachel is somehow helping us out is...really comforting."

"Yeah," Max said, "it's nice to know that someone might actually have more pieces of this puzzle than we do and is trying to help us find them."

"So what's my spirit animal?" Chloe said, "a shark? A Tasmanian devil? Ooh, a velociraptor?"

"Banana slug," Max said.

"What the shit?" Chloe said, "no...that's so fucking lame."

"Actually, I think it might be a butterfly," Max said, "a blue one; glows a bit."

"That's pretty sweet," Chloe said, starting up the truck, "I'll take it. So where to, Maximus?"

"Blackwell," Max said.

"Ugh, really?" Chloe said.

"Yeah," Max said, "I want to run my bullets theory past David."

"Oh," Chloe said, "that's a pretty good idea."

They drove away from the police station and Max's thoughts drifted back to the last rewind she did. Her brow furrowed.

"Chloe?" Max said, "something else odd happened back there."

"Dude, like I said, odd has become the new normal," Chloe said, "what went down?"

"Normally, when I rewind, I stay in place," Max said, "so if I'm in my room and then walk out into the hall and rewind, I end up out in the hall."

"Okay...," Chloe said.

"But after talking to Jefferson, I started rewinding and freaked out a bit because I realized that everyone would see me teleport from the room where I was with you out into the hall in front of Jefferson," Max said, "but instead, I ended up back in the room with you."

"Has that ever happened before?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, once, the very first time I rewound," Max said, "I was in the bathroom and then ended up back in Jefferson's class."

Chloe's brow furrowed and she was quiet for a moment.

"Are you _sure_ that's the only time it's happened?" Chloe said.

"I...I think so," Max said.

"Okay, humor me here," Chloe said, "has anyone ever noticed you teleporting around?"

"Er, no," Max said.

"So if you were talking to someone or snooping through someone's stuff while they're right next to you or making a move on someone…," Chloe said.

"Hey!" Max said.

"What?" Chloe said, "you're totally a snoop and I love it...it's, like, badass adorable. And as for making a move, you _did_ kiss me. Right here." She pointed at her lips.

"You dared me!" Max said, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"You still did it!" Chloe said.

" _Anyways_ , where were you going with that?" Max said.

"Oh right, yeah," Chloe said, "getting distracted...so yeah, say you're right in front of someone and you rewind. Has anyone ever freaked out or looked confused that you suddenly moved a bit to the left or suddenly had a different expression on your face? You know, a discontinuity?"

"Discontinuity?" Max said.

"Yeah," Chloe said.

"Is that from one of the books you've been reading about all of this?" Max said.  
"Maybe?" Chloe said, "it all sort of blurs together but it might've been from a YouTube clip of a Star Trek scene or something. I watched a fucking shit-ton of time travel clips."

"Any useful tips from those clips?" Max said.

"Um, don't wear a red shirt, never step into a British police box, and don't sell uranium to Libyans," Chloe said.

"Great," Max said, "I'll remember not to do those things. As to your question...no, I've never had anyone freak out at all."

"Then I think your time travel might be influenced by the Observer Effect," Chloe said.

"The what now?" Max said.

"Dude, come on," Chloe said, "I read about this years ago and talked about it over and over for, like, a month when we were kids."

"I seriously don't remember this," Max said.

"It's basically that the properties of things can change depending on whether or not they're being observed," Chloe said, "they did this light experiment and...it's just hella cool."

"So you think that whether or not I end up back where I was when I rewind is dependent on whether or not someone is watching me?" Max said.

"Could be," Chloe said, "it would seem to fit."

"I could've sworn I rewound near _you_ without that happening...at some point," Max said.

"Well maybe I'm special," Chloe said with a grin.

They pulled into the Blackwell parking lot and went looking for David, Max turning Chloe's theory over in her head. It actually did seem to make sense...and it fit with her experiences as far as she could remember. She'd have to experiment with it at some point. Max was just about to bring the subject up again when they saw David exiting the gym.

"Hey, Mr. Madsen," Max called out.

David waved and walked towards them as they approached.

"Hi Max. Hi Chloe," David said, "you both staying out of trouble?"

"You know me," Chloe said, "allergic to trouble."

"That's not really an encouraging statement," David said.

"We had a question for you," Max said.

"Shoot," David said.

"Ha," Chloe said, and David's eyebrows raised.

"Er, it is actually about shooting," Max said.

"Oh, right, you were planning on visiting today; did you go?" David said.

"Yeah," Chloe said, "they guy's as douchey as ever but actually answered our questions."

_Mostly_ , Max thought as David nodded.

"We were wondering...and sorry if this is a little morbid...if Nathan's gun had all of its bullets in it, do you think Chloe would have been hit further to the left?" Max said.

David thought for a moment.

"Might be a better question for a physics teacher," he said, "but yeah, I could see that. Nathan's arm was moving right and down when he pulled the trigger so if it was heavier, maybe it wouldn't have moved as far before he pulled the trigger. Seems possible. And yeah, that's not a pretty thing to think about; why are you asking?"

"Morbid curiosity," Max said, "get all of the lingering questions out...just to move on, you know."

"Yeah," David said, "I know the feeling. You want to cover all the angles, find out every piece of information...make sure you've covered all of the bases. I get it. Anyways, I'm supposed to be up in the offices right now so I do have to run. But if you need anything else from me, I'll be around."

"Awesome," Chloe said, "see you later."

"See you later," Max echoed.

David waved and Max and Chloe walked towards the dorms.

"Seems like that's it then," Max said, "the bullets."

They were quiet until they reached Max's room.

**. . . . .**

Max opened the door and Chloe walked in, stopping in the middle and looking around slowly.

 _Oh right_ , Max thought, _Chloe's never actually been in my room._

"Wow," she said, "it's like a hipster den in here."

"Hey," Max said, "this room is a canvas of my life."

"I think you just proved my point," Chloe said. Her eyes fell on Max's teddy bear. "Holy shit, it's the Captain!"

Chloe grabbed the bear and gave it a squeeze before handing it to Max.

She turned around and patted Max's bed, saying, "so this is where the action happens."

"Oh no," Max said, "no action here."

"Really? Not even double-clicking the mouse?" Chloe said, leaning over and looking at the photos on Max's wall.

"What? That doesn't even...oh," Max said, blushing.

"Dude," Chloe said, "you've got real talent here. These pictures are hella amazing."

"Thanks," Max said, her face turning even redder.

"Seriously," Chloe said, "I know I'm a total photo noob but these just look...so good."

"They're okay, I guess...," Max said.

"Hey," Chloe said, reaching over and ruffling Max's hair, "these aren't just okay. You were already good at this when we were kids and you've obviously gotten way better."

Max smiled.

Chloe straightened and glanced over at Max's desk. Something caught her eye and she walked over, picking up the sketch of herself that Daniel had done.

"Whoa, who did this?" Chloe asked.

"Oh right, Daniel did that. He's amazing at drawing," Max said.

"How did you end up with it?" Chloe said.

"I...um...he showed it to me and I asked if I could have it," Max said.

Chloe grinned at her, "dude, now I want one of you. Do you think he'd do that?"

"Sure!" Max said, "he already did one of me so he probably still has that. We could probably ask him to do another; it's actually really relaxing to just sit and get drawn. Oh, I almost forgot, he wanted me to ask you if it was okay to upload that sketch to Facebook; he puts all of his sketches up."

"Yeah, sure," Chloe said.

She continued to scan Max's room, chuckling as she glanced over Max's art books and movie collection.

Max sat down on the bed and watched.

_She must feel like I felt when I first saw her room_ , Max thought, _this is way hella different from my old room...just like her's is from her old room. And she seems to be liking it...I think._

"Dude, you play guitar?" Chloe said, pointing at the guitar propped up by the couch.

"Kind of," Max said, "just a bit."

"Sweet," Chloe said, "you can play your hipster music for me!"

"Oh no," Max said, "I am not that good; I just sit back and pluck at it to relax sometimes."

"And you said there wasn't any action in here," Chloe said with a devious smile.

"Shit," Max said, shaking her head but smiling, "it's like walking through a minefield of dirty jokes."

"You can't expect me to not pounce on lines like that," Chloe said.

"True," Max said.

Chloe walked over to Max's closet and put her hands on her hips.

"Let me guess: nothing but t-shirts, hoodies, and jeans? Different shades of what you're wearing right now?" Chloe said.

"No," Max said, "socks and underwear too."

"I see," Chloe said, "well, as much as I want to critique this wardrobe, I think that's a project for another time."

Chloe loped over to the bed, sat next to Max, and then twisted to lay down, resting her head on the pillow and putting her legs on Max's lap.

"So," Chloe said, "what's the plan? I know you've been thinking one up."

"Yeah," Max said, "we have to operate under the assumption that I need to go back and remove the bullets from Nathan's gun."

"But wait," Chloe said, "if I'm here, doesn't that mean you've already done it?"

"That's what I thought," Max said, her brow furrowed, "but I think I would've left myself some kind of note or sign or _something_...a message to prevent me from going down this path if I'd already done it."

"Where would you have left yourself a note?" Chloe asked, "could you have missed it?"

"I don't think I would've hidden it so that I couldn't find it," Max said.

"I don't know...remember when you hid that toy otter as part of a game of stuffed animal 'hide and seek' when we were kids? And you couldn't find it again for three months?" Chloe said.

"No comment," Max said.

Chloe chuckled.

"I checked my computer, my desk, my pockets, my bag, my favorite books, my bed...even Lisa," Max said.

"Who's Lisa?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, Lisa's my plant," Max said, pointing to the corner.

Chloe lifted her head to look. "Oh, hi Lisa," she said before laying back down.

"Wait," Chloe continued, "I thought you said that it wasn't _possible_ that you'd have to go back...or that you'd already gone back. I'm confused."

"The way I see it," Max said, "there are three possibilities. One: everything's fine as is and we don't need to do anything. However, the hidden bullets and the weird dream visions seem to speak against that. Option two: a future me already went back and did it. But the fact that I…"

"Beta Max," Chloe said.

"...am here, with knowledge of time travel," Max continued, "would speak against that one. Finally, three: _I_ need to go back and hide the bullets. But, of course, the fact that you're here would seem to speak against that. So...I'm confused too. Maybe all of my time travel caused some kind of glitch. After all, nature glitched in a big way the first time through...so maybe my time travelling can glitch as well."

"Maybe," Chloe said, "I guess we'll find out eventually. But why are we planning for option three only?"

"Because that's the only one that requires action," Max said.

"Ah, makes sense. Okay, so we have to get you prepped for a possible time travel mission," Chloe said, "what else do we need?"

"Two things: the combination to Nathan's safe and one or more photos from between the Saturday before last and Monday before Nathan took his gun to meet you. Preferably not on Monday since we don't know when Nathan took his gun...shit, I should've asked that," Max said.

"We can go back later and grill him again if necessary," Chloe said.

"Let's see what photos we find first," Max said, "I took some in and around the dorm that weekend, including near Nathan's room, so I should be able to find the photos necessary to get the key from Victoria's room and get into Nathan's."

"You had pictures from the boys' hall?" Chloe said.

"Yeah, Warren invited me down that Saturday to show me his game collection and his WoW character," Max said.

"I bet that's not all he wanted to show you," Chloe said with a snicker.

Max punched her lightly in the leg, saying, "dude, you know that he has a ton of awesome games. And if I remember correctly, you challenged him to playing some of them. He even has a bunch that you and I played for _hours_ at a time when we were kids. We're totally going to need to take over his room at some point."

"Okay, fine," Chloe said, "as long as he and Brooke aren't playing tetris while we're there. Or maybe if they just went to one corner and we went to the other…"

Max placed her fingers menacingly above Chloe's sides and said, "I swear I'll do it."

"Okay okay," Chloe said, "I'll shut up about the tetris. So you got pictures in the boys' hall?"

"Yeah, a few," Max said, "and I remember Nathan walking by and saying something awful to me but I don't remember the order of events; if I get the photos in front of me, I might be able to reconstruct it and remember when he arrived or left."

"Okay, it should be pretty easy to find the pictures," Chloe said.

"Um, about that…," Max said.

"Oh," Chloe said, glancing over to the isolated stacks of papers scattered throughout the room and the books and notes haphazardly tossed around, "so you're about as organized as you used to be?"

"Pretty much," Max said, "I never really came up with an organizational scheme for my photos. They just...sort of end up on the wall or in a drawer...or somewhere on my desk. It may take a while to find what we're looking for."

"We could start now," Chloe said, "get it done."

"That actually brings us back to the first point: getting Nathan's safe combination," Max said.

She looked at Chloe pointedly and a smile began to blossom on Chloe's face.

"Dude...it would be so fuckin' badass," Chloe said.

"You sound way too excited about the prospect," Max said.

"You _are_ thinking what I think you're thinking, right?" Chloe said.

"Nathan revealed that his combination is in his Douchemaster Photographs, his Douchemaster Photographs are in his apartment, and his apartment is at the Prescotts' house," Max said, "ergo, we have to get into said house to get into said apartment to get into said Douchemaster Photographs."

"I'm totally tripping right now. This is going to be so fucking awesome," Chloe said, "and did you seriously say 'ergo'?"

"Chloe, this is pretty serious. We could get into big trouble for this," Max said.

"Dude, you're a time travel superhero," Chloe said, "you could break into Area 51 or some shit. Besides, I thought you had your emergency photos thing going on," Chloe said, "can't you just snap a photo, keep it in your pocket, and then bail us out from the past if real shit goes down?"

"Yes, but that brings up a part of this that you're not going to be happy about," Max said, "it could be very tricky to get in. If they have surveillance, we might not be able to avoid it and I'd either have to go in alone or I'd have to erase the whole thing anyways."

Chloe frowned and said, "that sucks...do you think there's any way we could both get in there?" Chloe said, "I really want to be backing you up on this...especially since you're, you know, doing this for me."

Chloe looked off to the side, not meeting Max's gaze.

"Hey," Max said, drawing Chloe's eyes, "I'm not losing my best friend again. I'm committed to this. Partners, remember?"

"Yeah," Chloe said, "I'm...I'm sorry I keep on doing that. I've had so many people leave me that it's a bit hard to...anyways, thanks for reminding me again."

"Of course," Max said, "as many times as you need it, forever...besides, I need you. Where else am I going to get my supply of best friendliness, dirty jokes, kiss dares, and, apparently, fashion advice?"  
Chloe smiled.

"And because we're partners in crime, let's see if we can find a way to break in together," Max said.

"You sure you want to do that first? What about the photos that we need to find here?" Chloe said.

"We know that the Prescotts are out of town now...but we don't know when they'll be back. The sooner we pull off the Great Prescott Mansion Break In, the better," Max said.

"Okay...two things," Chloe said, "one: how do we get in? And two: we still don't know _which_ Prescott house it's under, right?"

"Oh shit," Max said, slapping a hand to her forehead, "I was supposed to ask Nathan about that."

"Maybe we _should_ go back for a second round," Chloe said, "or you could go back in a photo and write yourself a note to ask."

"Actually," Max said, looking towards her door, "I have a different idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole Observer Effect thing is my take on the difference between Max's first rewind (where she ends up where she was in the past) and her subsequent rewinds under the player's control (where she rewinds in place...the whole teleporting thing). This may not be fully compatible with everyone's experience of the game but it made sense to me after I wondered why no one ever reacted to Max's seeming teleportation if they were in view. I figured that the in-universe explanation would either be a) Max returns to where she was before only if people are watching (Observer Effect) or b) if Max does teleport, everyone somehow thinks that that's where she was before. Another tidbit that helps the (a) option is that Max is such a wallflower that she's probably ignored most of the time, allowing her to bounce around because no one's looking at her...


	9. Preparations

Max knocked lightly on Victoria's door.

"It's open," Victoria said sharply from inside.

Max pushed the door open. Victoria sat on her couch, laptop on her lap and a cup of coffee in front of her.

"Hey Victoria," Max said from the door with Chloe peeking over her shoulder, "have time to talk for a minute?"

"Well, if it isn't Thelma and Louise," she said, "sure, I'm not doing anything else."

"Thanks," Max said, stepping in.

Chloe followed with a frown. She'd wanted to put on her aviators for this...but Max had vetoed that. Chloe glanced around the room and suddenly grinned as her eyes fell on the figurine atop Victoria's dresser.

"Dude, is that Bluberry?" Chloe said, rushing over, "awesome, I used to love this shit."

"Yeah," Victoria said, "yeah...it is."

Chloe stared at the figurine intently and Victoria seemed, for once, at a loss for words.

_Victoria_ , Max thought, _if you don't want people to know you're secretly a geek, you might not want to display your geekitude where all can see. But...I'm glad you do display it. Anyways, time to go to work..._

"Victoria," Max said, "I was wondering if you know anything about Nathan's...um...Master Photography?"

"How do you know about that?" Victoria said, her eyes narrowing.

"We...went and talked to him today," Max said.

"You did?" Victoria said, raising her eyebrows, "I didn't know they were letting anyone visit him."

"Yeah," Max said, "we asked if we could meet with him and got in."

"Why did you want to talk to him?" Victoria said.

Max replied with her well-worn cover reason, "we wanted to understand what really happened and why."

"Did you? Did you find out?" Victoria asked.

"I think so," Max said, "Nathan was...is...in a really bad place inside...and has been for a while. His dad wasn't helping him and neither was Jefferson, of course. Things got out of hand."

Max noticed Chloe determinedly looking in another direction.

_Sorry again, Chloe_ , Max thought, _good cop calls._

"I see," Victoria said, "so what brought up his so-called _Master Photographs_?"

The sarcasm there was blatant. _Nathan is Victoria's friend_ , Max thought, _but Victoria clearly isn't a Nathan fangirl. And she must be struggling with how she feels about Nathan after all of this._

"He mentioned them at one point and I'm wondering what he was talking about," Max said.

"It's the totally humble name that he gave to the photos he was proudest of," Victoria said, "he'd collect them every week or two...just a couple each time, and bring them up to his fancy apartment under his parents' place in the woods to put in a special folder."

_Score_ , Max thought, _now we know which house the apartment is under too...I guess some information comes for free._

"...they were good photos," Victoria continued, "...a little creepy, of course...but he did have excellent technique. Of course I'd say that he wasn't as talented as I am and definitely not as talented as y…"

Victoria's stopped suddenly, her eyes widening, but she continued, "as you are."

Max's eyes widened and Victoria looked furious with herself.

_Wowser_ , Max thought, _did not expect that...I never thought I'd hear her say something like that to my face. It's honestly kind of adorable when you get a glimpse at the real Victoria that hides behind the mean, pretentious exterior._

"Thanks, Victoria," Max said, quite honestly, "that really means a lot. Especially from you; your work is amazing."

"Thanks," Victoria said. She shifted uncomfortably but a smile tugged at her lips.

Max didn't quite know what to say and both her and Victoria sat awkwardly before Chloe coughed pointedly.

"Um, right," Max said, "so yeah...the whole special photos thing is really weird...I just toss all of mine into drawers and onto my wall."

"Yeah," Victoria said, relief at the subject change evident on her face, "I just sort mine into folders. Very casual, nothing too crazy. I mean, sure, I set some aside that I really like. Who wouldn't? But I certainly don't give them a fucking pretentious collection title."

Max nodded and decided to press for information about Nathan's apartment.

"So wait," Max said, "Nathan has an _apartment_? _Under_ his parents' place?"

"Yeah," Victoria said, "it's very nice, as you'd expect. Built it into a storm bunker that the Paranoid Prescotts built beneath their mansion. Must've cost a literal fortune."

At the mention of a storm bunker, Max's fists clenched involuntarily and she could almost feel a concerned glance from Chloe.

_This is important, Max_ , she thought, _keep it together._

She forced her hands to relax and took a deep breath as Victoria continued to talk.

"...went up there a few times," Victoria was saying, "of course, Nathan never wanted his father to know we were there."

"How did you manage that?" Max said, "I'd think that the Prescotts would have every inch of their property under cameras, microphones, lasers…"

"Trained attack bears," Chloe interjected.

"...everything imaginable," Max said.

"Turns out that Sean Prescott learned a little lesson from Nixon, at least according to Nathan," Victoria said.

Max and Chloe both tilted their heads in confusion and Victoria rolled her eyes, continuing, "honestly, pick up a history book at some point. Nathan's father doesn't want anything that goes on in the house recorded at all. When you keep no records, there isn't anything that can be used against you later. I always got the sense that Nathan's father has some under-the-table dealings going on. Anyways, he has no cameras or microphones inside the house."

"You said _inside_ the house," Max said, "what about outside?"

"Most of the outside of the house is covered by security cameras," Victoria said, "and there's a fence around the property with alarms. And of course the gates and doors have cameras...all except for one path."

"Really?" Max said.

"Yes, like I said, I think that old Sean Prescott has some shady dealings from time to time. And since he's paranoid as hell, he needs a way to sneak people in and out where they won't be recorded...but in a way that's still suited to the dignity of the people he might be dealing with," Victoria said, "so there's a side gate that doesn't have a camera. There's a nice little gravel driveway outside and a manicured little path that goes from the driveway to the gate and from the gate to the nearest side door of the house. None of it is covered by cameras. Apparently Nathan's sister found out about it years ago and told him about it before she went off to...wherever she went. So that's what Nathan always used. The hardest part of the whole thing was getting _through_ the house to his apartment without being spotted by a maid or one of Nathan's parents."

"What's to stop someone from busting into the house from the super secret path?" Chloe said.

"Oh, the gate requires a code to unlock," Victoria said, "and so does the side door. Enter the wrong combination and you'll set off the alarms. Of course Nathan wasn't what you'd call a security expert...he made his apartment code the same as the gate code so that he wouldn't have to remember as many." Victoria chuckled.

"That's pretty crazy," Max said, "and you walked right in during broad daylight?"

"I only went with him two...no...three times," Victoria said, "once was during the day and we were spotted by a maid...luckily the old man wasn't home. The other two times were at night. The Prescotts keep a couple of a security guards on staff. Nathan told me that they're pretty damn lazy. They walk the grounds every hour or so and only go in the house when the family's out."

"Anything weird about the place?" Max said.

"Weird?" Victoria said, her brow furrowed, "not really; just a big house. Lots of nooks and crannies, old art. I only really saw it in passing since we always went straight to Nathan's place."

"Where's the door to Nathan's place?" Chloe said.

"It's right down the hall from the kitch…" Victoria started. She sat for a moment with her mouth partially open.

"Wait a second," Victoria said, furrowing her brow, "these are a lot of very specific questions about Nathan's place...are you planning something?"

"Oops, sorry Victoria," Max said.

Victoria opened her mouth but Max never heard the reply; she rewound back to just after Chloe's comment about Victoria's figurine.

"...yeah...it is," Victoria said.

Max smiled.

_Excellent_ , she thought, _time to cover this up and get going._

Max told Victoria about their visit with Nathan in more detail while avoiding anything about Nathan's photos or apartment. Once she'd finished, Victoria took a few moments to process it.

"Thanks for telling me about that," Victoria said, taking a deep breath, "I was really hoping that there was...I don't know...some kind of remorse in him. I mean, I'll admit that I didn't like Rachel very much...but she didn't deserve that. And you didn't deserve to get shot, Chloe. And Kate and the others...none of them...god, I was such a _bitch_!"

Victoria put her head in her hands.

Max and Chloe looked at one another, eyes wide. Max mouthed, "what do I do?" at Chloe; Chloe shrugged.

Max breathed deeply and reached out, putting a hand on Victoria's shoulder. Victoria jerked her head up, angry tears in her eyes.

"Maybe Nathan does have some remorse in him," Max said, "he has a lot of issues, Victoria, and Jefferson took advantage of that. That doesn't excuse what Nathan did, but he may very well understand what he did and have regrets over it. Chloe and I were probably _not_ the best people to bring out that side of him. But maybe you could find it. If you talked to him, maybe he'd tell you how he's really feeling."

Victoria nodded.

"I'll do that," she said.

"Although if I see Mar...Mr. Jefferson," she continued, scowling, "I'll punch him in his fucking face."

"I like the way you think," Chloe said.

"Actually, we saw Mr. Jefferson while we were there," Max said.

"Are you kidding?" Victoria said, "what happened?"

"Freaked us the fuck out," Chloe said, "he creepily said, 'hello Max'... _I_ got douche-shivers and I'd never even met the guy."

"What did you do?" Victoria said.

"It freaked me out too," Max said, "but we just turned around, flipped him off, and left. Completely ignored whatever he tried to say."

Victoria laughed.

"I like it," she said.

"Anyways," Max said, "we should probably get going; I just wanted to let you know about all of this."

"Thanks, Max," Victoria said.

Max and Chloe walked to the door. Max stepped out but Chloe turned back to Victoria.

"Oh hey," she said, "if you do get an opportunity to punch Jefferson, you might want to just slap him as hard as you can instead. I've heard that punching someone in the face can fuck up your hand."

Victoria smirked and said, "will do."

"And please tell us if you smack him down," Chloe said.

**. . . . .**

When they returned to Max's room, Max and Chloe collapsed onto the bed and Max relayed the information from the erased conversation.

"Awesomesauce," Chloe said, giving Max a high-five, "we have a way in!"

"Almost," Max said, "I have Nathan's code sheet...hopefully that has the right code for the gate and apartment or this whole thing will be a bust."

"Couldn't you break in and then rewind to open it from the inside?" Chloe said.

"I thought we figured out that I can't do that if someone's watching," Max said.

"And I thought we decided that I'm special," Chloe said.

"Hmm," Max said, "let's just test it right now."

"Oh...duh," Chloe said.

They stood up.

"Okay," Max said, "you stand by the bed. I'll stand over by the mirror. Then I'll walk over to Lisa and rewind. If this whole thing is based on observation and you aren't special…"

Chloe made a sad face.

"...I'll jump back to where I was and you won't notice anything. If you are special…"

Chloe grinned.

"...then you'll see me teleport across the room. And if there's some weird time-correction craziness, then maybe I'll teleport across the room but you'll think I was always there. Okay?"

"Sounds good to me, Super Max," Chloe said, "dazzle me with your powers!"

Max walked over to the mirror and stood there for a moment.

She then slowly walked over to Lisa.

"Okay, here it goes," she said.

She rewound to the point where she'd been back by the mirror and released it. She was still next to Lisa.

"Shit!" Chloe said, gesturing wildly, "you just...there and then...there! Fucking amazeballs. I have so many chills right now. That's so crazy!"

"Wow, do you know what this means?" Max said, grinning.

"That Chloe Price is special to Max Caulfield?" Chloe said.

"I think we already knew _that_ ," Max said.

The smile that appeared on Chloe's face made Max's heart melt.

Chloe cleared her throat and said, "yes...right. I meant...also magically or whatever."

"Yep," Max said, "and it also means that I can use rewinding to teleport around you without having to time it for when you're looking away or be in a different room or whatever. It seems small but it could be a huge advantage."

"No kidding," Chloe said, "and I have to say it again: that was so fucking sweet. I was totally planning on messing with you. Saying you were on the ceiling or pretending you'd disappeared or something...but it was too fucking cool!"

"Why thank you," Max said, taking a bow, "but now I'm wondering...why _you_? Why can I teleport in front of you but, presumably, not in front of anyone else?"

"You know what I think?" Chloe said, stepping over to Max.

"What?" Max said.

"I think we have too many mysteries on our plate at the moment," Chloe said, ruffling Max's hair.

"I think you're right," Max said, "let's focus on what we _can_ solve first...and that means figuring out how we're going to make use of Victoria's information. We'll come back to mysteries of the universe later."

"Sounds good to me," Chloe said, "but could you...do the teleport thing one more time?"

After Max delighted Chloe with another teleport across the room, they got to work. Max pulled out the code sheet she'd pilfered from Nathan's room. She copied them all onto a piece of scratch paper. She shivered slightly as she copied "542" down. Given Nathan's apparent code laziness, it was entirely possible that that code would get them far.

She then began writing notes on the paper covering everything they'd learned from Nathan and Victoria. While Max wrote, Chloe researched the Prescotts' mansion online. It took her several minutes and a long string of swearing to actually find the address, which she used to examine satellite views of the mansion.

"Yo Max," she said, "I think I found the spot. There's a weird little circle outside the fence on one side. I think it's the driveway Victoria was talking about. And on the other side of the fence, looks like a path going straight to the house."

"Sounds right," Max said, "is there somewhere nearby where we could park?"

"Yeah looks like there are a few spots up the road where we could pull off into the woods and be pretty well hidden," Chloe said.

"Awesome," Max said, finishing up her notes, "I think...we're good to do this."

Chloe looked over and said, "yep, although you're going to have to ninja it up."

"Dude, I _am_ the Blackwell Ninja," Max said.

"I won't argue with that," Chloe said, "but you should probably wear something a little bit darker to sneak around a place at night."

"Have a lot of experience with that?" Max said, standing up and stretching.

"Maybe," Chloe said with a lopsided grin, "I did my fair share of sneaking around Blackwell after dark while I was here. Always had a set of black clothes ready for it, too. Of course a skin-tight black jumpsuit would be best. Have one of those?"

"No," Max said.

"Aww, too bad," Chloe said.

Max went to her closet and pulled out her darkest jeans, a black hoodie, and a dark purple shirt.

"This is about as good as I've got," Max said.

"Eh, I guess it'll do," Chloe said, "we'll have to swing by my place so I can go ninja too. Maybe I have something there that would work on you."

"Chloe cosplay for a raid on the Prescott house?" Max said.

"Dude, you'd rock Chloe cosplay," Chloe said, "oh, and you'll need gloves too."

"Gloves?" Max said.

"Yeah, to keep from leaving fingerprints," Chloe said.

"Oh, good point," Max said. She dug into a drawer and pulled out a pair of pink gloves, "how are these?"

"You're kidding, right?" Chloe said.

"These are the only ones I have!" Max said.

"Better than nothing," Chloe said, "I might have an extra pair you could use. Of course, this all shows that you've got another hella big hole in your wardrobe. When I find a new outfit for you, we're also getting you a legit ninja outfit. And it'll include hardcore black leather gloves."

"Chloe Price, Consultant for Style and for Crime," Max said.

"Yep yep," Chloe said, spinning in the desk chair.

Max changed and put her notes into her bag. Meanwhile, Chloe went back to her research and managed to dig up a floorplan of the Prescott mansion. It came from a conspiracy theory website, so neither Max nor Chloe were particularly convinced that it was real, but Max sketched it into her notes anyways. They packed up and left for Chloe's house. Evening was approaching but it would still be several hours before Max and Chloe planned to start their raid.

**. . . . .**

They reached Chloe's house before either Joyce or David got home and Chloe hopped in the shower.

While waiting, Max used Chloe's computer to take a look at the satellite images of the Prescott home again and familiarize herself with the details. She also pulled up the conspiracy theory site, which appeared to specialize in rumors surrounding wealthy residents of the Pacific Northwest. The pages about Sean Prescott were few in number but Max was initially intrigued by one article's title: "Sean Prescott Uses Native Artifacts to Track the Supernatural" but quickly decided to avoid that particular rabbit hole after glancing at the article title beneath that: "Sean Prescott: Northwestern Oregon's Lizard People Liaison?" She instead focused on the maybe-real floorplan, familiarizing herself with it further. It didn't show any bunker entrances but did seem to indicate a basement door near the kitchen, which would match up with what Victoria had been about to say earlier.

A sudden thought crossed Max's mind: _what if we don't have the house code in Nathan's list? I might have to break in, rewind, and let Chloe in like we did with the pipe bomb at Wells' office. Should I make a pipe bomb again?_

She pulled up an incognito window.

_Okay_ , she thought, _I'll search how to break into a house and then rewind so that there's no trace_ at all _that I ever searched for that. That should cover all of my…_

Her thoughts came to an abrupt stop. She'd begun to type and had gotten as far as "how to" when the recent search autocomplete options caught her eye. The first one read, "how to say i love you."

Her brain stopped for a few moments.

_Okay, Max_ , she finally thought, _don't jump to conclusions. Maybe it's a song title she was looking up. Maybe she searched for it a long time ago. Maybe it was about Rachel._

That last thought brought a pang of jealousy, which Max quickly smothered.

_Yes_ , Max thought, _Rachel was super important to Chloe and Chloe obviously felt very strongly about her. But that's no reason to be jealous. Besides, Chloe said earlier that she'd become such good friends with Rachel partially_ because _Rachel was so much like me. How could I possibly be jealous of that?_

The bedroom door suddenly boomed open and Max jumped, racing to close the window. She spun around to see Chloe walking into the room, a towel wrapped around her body.

"Nice reflexes, Max," Chloe said, "but I promise I won't judge if you're watching porn in here."

"Ew, no," Max said, "I was starting to look up how to break into a house, in case we don't actually have the code to get in."

"Oh, makes sense," Chloe said, "you know, I'm pretty sure I still have a crowbar behind the seat of my truck. Think that would work?"

"Er, I guess," Max said, "um...why do you have a crowbar in your truck?"

"Oh, nothing sinister," Chloe said, grabbing clothes out of her closet and drawers and flinging them over to the bed, "I think I just picked it up from the junkyard or something and figured it might be useful at some point."

"Huh," Max said. She stared over at Chloe, an image of the "how to say i love you" search text floating in her head.

Chloe looked back at her quizzically and said, "what's up? Do I have something on my face?"

"Oh, no," Max said, shaking her head, "just sort of zoning out."

"Ah, I use chemicals for that," Chloe said, pointing to the ashtray by her computer, "of course as long as I'm on these pain pills, I'm freaked out about what the combo might do. Haven't even had a cigarette in days. Oh well."

Chloe shrugged and started to undo her towel. Max spun back around to the computer, blushing. She could hear Chloe chuckle quietly behind her. Max went back to looking at whatever images and photos were available of the Prescotts' house. After a few moments, Chloe stepped up to the desk beside her. Max glanced over and saw that while Chloe was wearing black pants, she had thrown on one of her white tank tops.

"I thought we were going ninja?" Max said.

"Yeah," Chloe said, "but it's not nearly go time, we need to eat, and Joyce and David are both going to see us. Trust me, the outfit I'll be wearing is super ninja. If I wore it downstairs for dinner, Joyce and David would get suspicious...if they could even see me."

Max rolled her eyes.

The front door opened and closed below and David's voice boomed, "hey Chloe, I'm home!"

"Hi David," Chloe yelled out, "Max is here too!"

"Great!" David said.

"Okay, Max," Chloe said, "my plan is that we say you're here to hang out and that I'll be taking you back to Blackwell later. That'll explain us leaving late. I'm also pretty sure that David doesn't have night duty tonight. That means they should both be asleep by the time we ship out."

"And I have no classes tomorrow morning; this works out great," Max said, "...oh, but what if we come back _here_ after our raid?"

"Um...we can say that you decided to stay here but needed something from Blackwell?" Chloe said, "a book or something?"

"We'll make it work," Max said.

Joyce arrived home a few minutes later and Max and Chloe went downstairs.

After dinner, much talking, and thankfully few questions about Max and Chloe's evening plans, Joyce and David went up to sleep and Max and Chloe sat down to a movie they had no intention of finishing. They waited, fidgeting on the couch, until about fifteen minutes after they stopped hearing any movement above them. Chloe turned off the TV.

"Ready for this here pirate raid, Cap'n Price?" Max said, trying to sound far less nervous than she felt.

"Arrr, I be ready, First Mate Caulfield," Chloe said. She switched to her normal voice and continued, "although, given that you're Super Max, maybe _you_ should be captain now."

"Absolutely not," Max said, "you've always been the captain, Chloe. I'm just the exceptionally gifted First Mate." Max grinned.

"Arrr, then let's be settin' sail," Chloe said.

They hopped off the couch and quietly climbed the stairs. Chloe changed into a black shirt, threw on her black jacket, and traded her blue beanie for a black one that covered most of her hair. Max grabbed her bag and pulled out William's old camera. She'd taken to bringing that camera with her and leaving her old one in her room.

"Make a pose," Max whispered to Chloe.

"Dude," Chloe said, "you don't have to whisper. Remember how my mom and dad wouldn't come to tell us to shut up unless we were literally screaming in here?"

"Oh right," Max said, "I guess it just feels like we should be quiet right now...secret mission and all."

"Keep that thought," Chloe said, "since you _can_ totally hear whatever's going on in the hallway," Chloe said.

"Noted," Max said, "now strike a pose so I can take this picture."

Chloe crossed her arms, put one foot up on her bed, and made a ferocious scowl.

Max laughed and snapped a picture. She shook it out and wrote the time and date on the bottom before placing it in her pocket.

"Emergency photo?" Chloe asked.

"Yep," Max said, "if anything goes wrong, I'll jump back to this moment and warn us."

"I can't get over how amazing this power of yours is," Chloe said, shaking her head.

"Well, this will be the craziest thing that I've deliberately attempted, so let's go for it," Max said.

They quietly exited the house and got into Chloe's truck, where Chloe quickly confirmed that she did indeed have a crowbar behind the seat. They pulled out of the driveway and drove towards the Prescott mansion outside of town. A three-quarter moon lit the road and Chloe turned off the truck's headlights as they left the last few buildings of the town behind. After a few minutes, they passed by a road to the left, marked as private, which they knew led to the front entrance of the Prescotts' house. A few moments later, they reached a juncture in the road that they'd memorized from the satellite map. Off to the left was a barely visible gravel path.

"That's the driveway that leads to the side gate," Chloe said, "we'll go a little further up."

They drove a short distance before Chloe pulled off to the left, seeing a gap in the trees. She drove in as far as she could and turned off the truck. The only illumination came from the moon.

"Dude, I'm both nervous and excited as fuck at the same time," Chloe said.

"I'm mostly nervous," Max said.

"Hey, you've got your rewind, you've got your photojump, and you've got me," Chloe said.

Max managed a smile and said, "and you've got optimism. Okay, I guess this is a little exciting."

"Hell yeah," Chloe said with a grin.

Max remembered how she felt about breaking into the Blackwell pool: nervous at first but then exhilarated...and then even relaxed.

_We can do this_ , Max thought, _and we can rock it_.

"Alright, let's go," Max said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before the Storm was announced shortly before I originally released this chapter. Now that the first two episodes of Before the Storm are out, I figure I should reiterate the gist of the note that I originally put on this chapter: Small Things is based _only_ on the original game since Before the Storm wasn't out yet when I wrote it. In this story (and in the sequel), I make some assumptions about Rachel, her actions, and her relationship with Chloe that may turn out to contradict things from Before the Storm. I've only played Episode 1 of Before the Storm so far and I think that my stories are still compatible (maybe). I have no idea what's in Episode 2 yet so that may change (and if not, it may yet change with Episode 3 or even with the Farewell episode). Still, I'm already trying to weave a little of Before the Storm's info into this story's sequel...we'll see how it goes!


	10. Breaking and Entering

Chloe grabbed the crowbar from behind the seat and the pair made their way through the woods to the gravel driveway. They moved up the adjoining path until they reached the fence: a dense line of tall black bars, all pointed at the top. The expected gate, almost indistinguishable from the surrounding fence, blocked the path.

Max and Chloe stepped cautiously up to the gate and peered through the bars at the Prescotts' house, a sprawling two-level home in the center of the grounds.

Chloe said, "I don't see any guards walking around. No flashlights or anything."

"Yeah, me neither," Max said.

She reached into her bag and pulled out the note sheet.

_Alright_ , Max thought, eyeing the list of codes, _let's try lazy Nathan first._

She typed 542 into the keypad; nothing happened.

"That's not a good sign," Chloe said.

After a few moments, flashlights snapped to life near the front of the property.

"Huh," Chloe said, "now we know where the guards hang out. Time to rewind?"

"Yep," Max said, reaching her hand out.

She stopped the rewind just before her past self had typed in the code.

"Tried one code...didn't work," she told Chloe, "The gate alarm is silent and guards started coming towards us from over there." She pointed to where they'd seen the flashlights.

"Ah, good to know," Chloe said.

Max next tried the code that Nathan had circled on his sheet: 9535. The gate clicked.

"Sweet! No gate's gonna stop these pirates!" Chloe said. She pulled the gate open and the pair stepped through.

They closed the gate carefully behind them and began crossing the grounds towards the house, hunched over slightly and sticking to the path, gravel crunching beneath their feet. Max eyed the few trees and bushes near the path: good cover if they needed to hide quick. The house loomed in front of them and the door they were aiming for was clearly visible in the moonlight.

When they reached the house, Chloe crouched beside the door, crowbar in hand, while Max approached the keypad. There were a total of six codes to try, including the two she'd just tried at the gate. Seven, actually, if you counted the possibility that Nathan had been trying to write a nine instead of a three in one of them.

Max figured it was unlikely that the door code would be the same as that of the gate or the Dark Room so she started with 0058.

Max jumped as deafening alarms blared around them.

"Fuck!" said Chloe, covering her ears, "that's really fucking loud!"

Max immediately rewound.

"One down, six to go," she said to Chloe.

"Great," Chloe said, "now watch, it'll be the last one you try," Chloe said.

"Well yeah, I'm not going to try any more after I get it," Max said.

"Oh...right," Chloe said, "...you know what I meant."

Max tried 4436 next. The alarm sounded again.

Max rewound and tried the last two new ones: 5431 and 3988. Then she tried 9988...then 9535 and 542. Alarms each time.

She rewound after the last code and turned to Chloe, saying, "I'm out, none of the codes on this sheet work."

"Plan B?" Chloe asked, a devious smile on her face.

"Plan B," Max said, moving out of the way.

Chloe stepped forward, rammed the end of the crowbar into the gap in the door, and pushed hard. A loud crack echoed over the quiet grounds and the screech of the alarms followed.

"Fuck!" Chloe shouted, covering her ears, "that's really fucking loud! Hurry up and get in there!"

Max leapt through the open door and rewound.

When she stopped, she could hear only the clicking sounds of distant clocks. A dark hallway stretched in front of her and Max shivered.

_This is spooky_ , Max thought. She stepped back towards the door and heard Chloe's voice.

"Max? Hey Max?" Chloe said, her voice muffled behind the door, "you in there?"

"Yeah," Max said quietly at the door, "give me a second."

She examined the door and found a simple latch. She was about to turn it when she noticed a small box next to the door with a screen. There were buttons labelled "ARM", "DISARM", and "OPEN". A small display showed three lines of text: "ARMED", "LOCKED", and "NO ENTRY". She pressed the "OPEN" button and "NO ENTRY" changed to "ACCESS" and she heard a small click. She then turned the latch ("LOCKED" switched to "UNLOCKED") and opened the door. Chloe rushed inside and Max closed the door and locked it again. The display returned to its original state.

"I'm guessing the codes didn't work?" Chloe whispered.

"Nope," Max said, "and you're pretty handy with a crowbar."

"Damn right," Chloe said with a grin, "so now where? I only glanced at the floorplan briefly."

"I think we need to go down this hallway, take a right at the end, and go to a big hall in the center. The kitchen should be past that and the entrance to Nathan's place should be somewhere around there," Max said.

"Awesome," Chloe whispered, "you have a hella good memory."

"Nah, I just had plenty of time to study it," Max whispered, "you took a really long shower."

"Dude," Chloe said quietly, "you always used to take long showers too!"

"Not judging," Max said, "I _still_ take long showers...it's so relaxing to just forget about everything while you stand under the water. All of your concerns just melt away for a while."

"Ha, now I'm totally going to have to sneak up and scare you while you're in the shower," Chloe said.

Max shook her head with a quiet chuckle and pointed down the hall.

They started walking, passing doors, paintings, and numerous small nooks built into the walls.   
Everything seemed to be made from wood or stone...it was a Pacific Northwest-styled home that also seemed to be trying very hard to be a European manor.

The floor squeaked as they walked. Max glanced over and saw Chloe wincing with each step; Max also felt her heart rate spike with each small noise. It didn't help that the ticking of various clocks had grown louder around them...and that the house itself produced creaking noises from random directions.

"Dude," Chloe whispered, "this place is _fucking creepy_. I'm seriously freaked out right now."

They turned a corner and as they passed by a large grandfather clock, its chimes suddenly boomed. Max's heart seemed to leap into her throat and Chloe jumped beside her.

"What the _serious_ fuck?" Chloe said over the chimes, "Max, I swear, this place is going to murder me...hey, you okay?"

"I'll let you know as soon as I get my wits back," Max said. She looked at the clock: it had struck 10pm and the chimes were still sounding.

"Gah," Chloe said, "fuck this. I'm going to walk around like a normal person. There's no one here."

"Maybe you have a point," Max said.

The chimes stopped.

"Let's keep going," Max said.

They soon reached the large hall in the center of the house and peered out into the wide open space. To the left, ornate doors led to the front of the house. Directly above and on the far side of the hall, staircases climbed to the second level. And through a door on the far side, Max could see cookware and kitchen cabinets.

_Alright_ , Max thought, _Nathan's apartment is over there somewhere._

She stepped out into the hall and froze; a door had just opened nearby. Chloe leaned out and they looked to their left: lights were shining behind the doors to the front.

" _Fuck_ ," Chloe said.

"Shit," Max said, "quick, go back."

They ducked backwards and waited. They heard the doors into the hall open and saw flashlight beams slowly pan across the walls and stairs.

"Okay, Rob," a bored-sounding voice said, "same as last time, I'll take the left, you take the right. And remember, don't open any exterior doors without pressing the button or we'll have ringing in our ears for days...again."

"Yeah yeah, I get it, Jim," Rob said, "do something wrong once and no one ever forgets it...say, why don't they just let us turn on the fucking lights in here?"

" _I_ don't know," Jim said, his voice annoyed, "I just do what the boss says. Which reminds me, don't try going into any rooms with keypads again either."

Rob grumbled something that Max couldn't hear and started moving towards them.

Max and Chloe scrambled back into the hallway they entered from.

"Now what?" Chloe whispered.

"We need to find somewhere to hide," Max said, "maybe a closet or a bathroom or something."

"So start trying doors?" Chloe said.

Max nodded.

They walked down the hall quickly, opening doors as quietly as they could. Rob, around the corner, was also opening doors, taking several moments at each to check the rooms. His loud steps and quiet grumblings were getting closer. Max found a closet that was too small to hide in. She then found what looked like an office...but with nothing large enough to hide behind. On her third door, Max found stairs leading up.

_Yes_ , Max thought.

"Hey, a bathroom," Chloe whispered behind her. Max turned but Chloe said, "shit, nothing to hide behind."

Suddenly, a blinding flashlight beam fell on them.

"Hey!" Rob said, "who the f…"

Max was already rewinding.

She stopped and Chloe, several paces away, jumped at Max's sudden appearance further down the hall. Max motioned for Chloe to come over.

"Damn, Max," Chloe whispered as she got close enough, "I don't know if I'll ever get used to that. Did we get caught?"

"Yeah," Max whispered, "but I did find this." She opened the door to the stairs.

"Awesomesauce," Chloe said and they started up the stairs, closing the door quietly behind them.

At the top, they found themselves in a richly carpeted hallway.

"This place is a fucking maze," Chloe said.

They heard a door close loudly in the hall below and, after sharing a glance, they hurried to the nearest doors, resuming their search for a hiding place. The first room Max checked was another tiny closet. But the second one…

"Chloe," Max said, "over here."

It was a palatial bathroom with a large, high-walled tub in the corner. The pair rushed into the bathroom quietly as loud footsteps echoed from the stairs. They closed the door and felt their way in the dark, hand in hand, over to the tub, climbing in and flattening themselves against the bottom side-by-side, with Chloe's crowbar resting on top of them.

Max held her breath and grabbed Chloe's hand as the door to the bathroom opened. A flashlight illuminated the walls around them. Max prepared herself to rewind.

"Ugh," came Rob's voice, "wish I had a bathroom this nice. Just a guest bathroom and it's five times the size of mine..."

The flashlight beam disappeared and the door closed.

Max let out the breath she'd been holding and she felt Chloe relax beside her.

"That was fucking close," Chloe whispered.

"For reals," Max whispered back.

"Have to agree with Grumpy Rob," Chloe said, "I would love to have a bathroom like this. This tub is fuckin' huge."

"Next time we'll bring bubble bath," Max said.

Chloe snorted. The sound of Grumpy Rob's searching grew fainter.

"How long do you think we should stay here?" Max said.

"Well, as much as I'm enjoying dry bath time with Max Caulfield, we can't stick around too long," Chloe said. "these guys come through here every hour, right? And who knows how long it takes them to cover this place. We may need to sneak around them to get to Nathan's pad."

"Okay," Max said, "I don't hear Grumpy Rob anymore..."

"Let's go!" Chloe said, rising from the tub and pulling Max up, "back the way we came?"

"Yep," Max said, leading them back out of the bathroom and down the stairs. They couldn't see or hear the guards but proceeded back towards the main hall carefully, their pace painfully slow. They reached the main hall and started into it when they heard footsteps and saw flashlights approaching at the tops of both staircases above.

"Shit, not again," Chloe said.

"Over there," Max said, pointing to an open door at the back of the hall to their right.

They ducked in and scrambled behind a massive desk just as the flashlights began sweeping the hall outside. The guards descended and left the house; only the sound of the ticking clocks remained.

Max let out another breath and stood up, looking around. They were in some kind of study or office, a room ringed with bookshelves and cabinets with a massive painting of a buck on one wall. The desk they'd hid behind was solidly built and a pair of chairs sat against one wall. It also looked like there was another small room to the side with a window between them. It was the room's only window.

_I bet this is Sean Prescott's study_ , Max thought.

"Alright, coast is clear," Chloe said, "let's go."

Max moved to follow but her glance fell to a paper on the desk and she stopped.

Chloe was all the way out in the main hall before she turned around and came back.

"Yo Max," she said, "what's up?"

Max was staring at a paper with a triangular pattern of symbols. She'd seen it before...on the shack beside the lighthouse. Like then, it somehow made her think of the wind.

_What the hell? Why is there a copy of_ that _here? There is so much mystery around Sean Prescott_ , Max thought, _and I can't help but think he's somehow connected to all of this. The Prescotts know something...and now I'm in Sean Prescott's study. I_ have _to take this opportunity to snoop._

"Chloe," Max said, "I think I need to look around a bit in here. I think this is Sean Prescott's study and I can't help but think that he's somehow involved in all of this."

Chloe stepped over and looked down at the paper, barely visible in the diffused moonlight from the main hall.

"This have something to do with it?" Chloe asked, gesturing to the paper.

"Yeah, I saw this same pattern on that shack by the lighthouse," Max said, "I don't know how to explain it but it feels like it means something...and if it's here, there might be other things here too."

"Do you need some help?" Chloe asked.

"No, you're right about needing to find Nathan's place before our new friends come back," Max said, "you should go look for the entrance and I'll stay here and look around."

"Okay," Chloe said, "I'll shout out if something goes wrong and we need a rewind. And here," Chloe handed over the crowbar, "in case you need it."

"Thanks," Max said, "I'll also take photos of anything that looks important. So if you come back and the door is closed, it's just to keep the guards from seeing the flash."

"No problem, Bat Max. See you soon," Chloe said.

Chloe left and Max began searching the room...unfortunately it didn't take long. All of the drawers and cabinets were locked and there was no sign of a key. Max, thinking about stereotypical mansions in stories, wondered briefly if the key might be hidden in a fake book somewhere in the room's densely packed bookshelves.

_Maybe...but there's no fucking way that I'm going to spend hours of rewind time looking through books_ , Max thought, _I'll be nosebleeding all over the place. And besides, Mr. Prescott probably has the key._

Max tried the door into the side room but it too was locked. She peered through the window but could only see an oddly-shaped table on one side and what looked like an overly complicated coat hanger on the wall nearest the door. Definitely nowhere to hide a key.

Max grabbed the crowbar and tried to pry open the drawers and cabinets...but the gaps on all of them were too small for the crowbar to fit. So instead, Max started bashing them with the crowbar. After making a tremendous amount of noise, Max found that she hadn't even made a dent...just a ton of scratches. She sighed and rewound, stopping just before she had started her crowbar assault on the room.

_Fuck it_ , Max said, _I guess this room is keeping its secrets tonight._

She walked over to the study's door and reached to close it, noticing a gap between the door and the inner wall. She examined it closer and found what appeared to be a metal sliding door partially hidden in the wall.

_A double door?_ , she thought, _that's so weird...ugh, I wish I could find out more...but I'd need a plasma torch or something to get into anything here._

She closed the study door...the normal one...and pulled out her camera and her phone. She went to turn on her phone's flashlight while holding the camera but her gloved hand slipped and she accidentally took a photo. The flash filled the room and a picture spilled out.

_Shit_ , Max thought, _I am such a klutz!_

She grabbed the picture, shook it, rolled her eyes, and jammed it into her bag.

She put the camera down, propped her phone on the desk to illuminate the paper, and then took the shot. She shook that photo, placed it with her non-emergency photos, and put her camera back in the bag.

_Well_ , Max thought, _this was a bit of a bust. I wonder if Chloe's found Nathan's apartment yet._

She opened the study's door and saw no sign of Chloe. Max sighed; Chloe probably thought it would take Max a while to search the room.

Max walked back in, sank into the chair behind the desk, and stared at the buck painting on the wall. Her mind wandered and she began to zone out; the chair was insanely comfortable.

_Exactly the kind Chloe would want to steal_ , Max thought.

Time passed and Max found herself mesmerized by the sound of ticking clocks. When she finally broke out of her reverie and glanced over at a clock, she realized that Chloe had been gone for more than 20 minutes. Max stood up, alarmed, but just as she rushed to the door to search for Chloe, the blue-haired girl bounded in and they nearly crashed into one another.

"Whoa! Yo Max, sorry I took so long...you wouldn't believe this place! I just _had_ to go exploring," Chloe said, "A ton of the rooms upstairs are locked but I found a hella huge game room. And then there was an art room...for making art, you know. Paintings and shit. There's even a movie theater. _A movie theater!_ Dude, we need to break in here more often."

"Slow down there, Chloe," Max said, "I'm not sure I want to be playing hide and seek with Jimbo and Grumpy Rob every time we want to watch a movie. And I definitely wouldn't want to be playing hide and seek with Sean Prescott."

"Who knows?" Chloe said, "maybe he's a fun guy. He does have a theater and a game room with pool and ping pong and stuff."

"Somehow I don't see it," Max said, remembering the letters she'd seen from Mr. Prescott to his son.

"Speaking of Pool Shark Sean," Chloe said, "what did you find in his lair here?" She glanced around the room as if she expected to see treasures pouring out of the cabinets.

"Nada," Max said, "everything's locked up tight...I couldn't even get the crowbar in."

"Did you try bashing this shit in?" Chloe said, lifting the crowbar up and swinging it slowly.

"Yep," Max said, "and not even a dent. I think his cabinets are made out of adamantium."

"But everything looks like wood," Chloe said. She tapped the nearest cabinet and it produced a distinctly metal thud.

"Another weird thing," Max said, pointing at the door, "there's a sliding metal door behind the main door there."

"Seriously?" Chloe said, checking it out, "what the hell _is_ this room."

Chloe walked over and looked down at one of the chairs by the wall.

"Um...Max?" Chloe said, "these chairs over here have restraints on them."

"What?" Max said, feeling a chill.

She joined Chloe and looked down, seeing the straps coming out of the armrests of the chair. Her heart started beating faster and she felt her breath catching. Images burst into her mind: the metal door slamming shut and herself in the chair, the straps digging into her wrists. Max held her arms tightly to her abdomen, rubbing her wrists. She imagined a prick in her neck.

"Chloe," Max said quietly, her voice strained, "I need to leave...I need to get out."

"Shit, Max, I'm so sorry," Chloe said, wrapping an arm around Max's shoulders and leading her quickly out of the room.

As soon as they passed through the door, Max felt her breath become unstuck. She fell to the floor and gulped in deep breaths. Chloe dropped to the ground next to her and put an arm around her waist.

"Max, you're okay," Chloe said, "you're okay; there's no one around, it's just us. We're out of the room and we can bust out any window or door here if we need to get out. You're okay."

Chloe gently rocked Max back and forth and Max felt a wave of calm wash over her. She melted into Chloe's embrace and listened to the sounds of the clocks around them. The ticking, steady and regular...a little heartbeat of time that reminded Max of what she had control of. Her breathing steadied and she placed a hand on Chloe's knee.

"I'm fine now, Chloe, I'm fine," she said.

"Are you sure?" Chloe said, letting go of Max, "we can stay here for as long as you need. If the guard dudes come back, we can just go hide somewhere again."

"No, I'm okay," Max said, standing up, "I just got caught off-guard. It's just...it's just me being stupid."

"It's _not_ that, Max," Chloe said, standing up beside Max, "don't you ever say that. You went through hella shit. This kind of thing is going to happen sometimes. It fucking sucks and it'll hit you like a train for a while but you'll learn to manage it. You'll get through it. It'll end up more like an itch than a gut punch. I know because I got there. It takes time, Max. But I'll be here to help you. We'll get through it together."

"I...thanks, Chloe," Max said, "you're amazing."

"I'll remember you said that," Chloe said.

Max looked back over at the study and said, "my bag is still in there."

"Stay here," Chloe said.

She walked back in and came out a few moments later with Max's bag and the crowbar.

"Anything else of ours in there?" Max said, taking the bag and turning away from the study.

"Nope," Chloe said, "checked everywhere and even made sure that wacky paper was still in the same spot."

"Great," Max said, "oh, and...um...did you find the door to Nathan's place?"

"You mean: was I doing what I was supposed to be doing?" Chloe said, "instead of checking out game rooms and movie theaters?"

"Didn't want to put it that way," Max said with a small smile.

"You're adorable," Chloe said, "and yes, I found it. Right where Vicky C. said it would be."

"Oh, please don't call her that to her face," Max said, following Chloe towards the kitchen, "I think I actually have a chance of making a friend out of her."

"Wait, you want to be _friends?_ With _her?_ " Chloe said.

"Yeah...I think. It turns out that her and I have a lot in common," Max said, "and most of her queen bitchiness comes from insecurity. I think she's actually kind of nice if you can get past her epic wall of snark. She's also secretly a total geek, as you noticed."

"True," Chloe said, leading Max around a corner.

"And she accidentally let slip that she likes my work," Max said.

"Huh, I guess that means she knows great stuff when she sees it. Or...maybe she's trying to get into your pants," Chloe said with a wink, "she wants dat ass."

"I'm pretty sure that Victoria does not want dis ass," Max said.

"Well, she's not good enough for you anyways," Chloe said.

"Oh, and who is?" Max said.

"Why, me of course," Chloe said.

"Why's that?" Max said with a smile.

"Because I find secret douchebag-doors for you!" Chloe said with a flourish, gesturing to the door they'd just arrived at.

"Wow, that was good timing," Max said, "I'm beginning to suspect that you have time travel powers too."

"Nope, just highly opportunistic," Chloe said.

"I see," Max replied.

Chloe opened the door, revealing a steep set of stairs leading to a dimly lit door below. Max hesitated and Chloe glanced over.

"You don't have to go down there, Max," Chloe said, "you can tell me exactly what we need to find and I can go."

"No," Max said, taking a deep breath, "partners in crime, remember. I'm coming."

"Okay," Chloe said, "but if you need to get out, you tell me right away and I'll get you out."

"Thanks," Max said with a smile. She started down the stairs. Chloe followed, closing the top door behind her.

Max reached the keypad and entered 9535. A click sounded. Max took another deep breath and pulled the door open, stepping inside. The space was dark; dim light from scattered nightlights showed only the silhouettes of furniture. Max pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight as Chloe stepped in and closed the door behind her. Max found a light switch and flipped it on.


	11. The Apartment

Max expected Nathan's apartment to be a clone of the Dark Room: concrete walls, tile floors, shades of whites and greys. Instead, to her surprise, a cozy modern living room stretched out in front of them. The walls were painted a light blue and the floor was covered in a thick white carpet. A comfortable-looking blue couch sat in front of them facing a squat table and a large TV on the far wall. To their right was a small but well-equipped kitchen. A hallway into the rest of the apartment began at the far end of the living room. Everything looked impressively clean, well-maintained, and, of course, expensive.

Chloe whistled and said, "wow, these are hella nice digs."

She turned to Max and said, "you okay?"

"Yeah," Max said, "it's not at all what I was expecting. It's...nice. Not at all like...the other bunker I've been in."

Max stepped over to the couch and ran a finger across the top.

"They must have cleaning staff come down here or something," Max said, "Nathan was supposedly almost never here and there's not even any dust."

"I could totally live in a place like this," Chloe said.

"Me too," said Max.

"It's decided then! But before we start moving our shit in, let's find Nathan's Douchemaster pictures," Chloe said.

They walked over into the hallway; there were two doors on the left, three on the right, and one at the end. They opened the first door on the right, revealing a storage room filled mostly with food supplies on rows of metal shelves. Next they checked the first door on the left, which opened into an office.

"This room has a distinctly Nathan feel to it," Max said as they stepped inside.

"Yeah, I'm getting that too," Chloe said.

Framed photographs hung on the walls; Nathan's work, by the look of them. The furniture was all white, black, or grey. A high-end photo printer sat on the room's desk next to what looked like a brand new desktop computer. Speakers for an expensive sound system ringed the room and, like in Nathan's room at Blackwell, there was a projector, this time hanging from the ceiling. File cabinets and drawers lined the walls.

"Dude," Chloe said, examining one of the speakers, "I so want to take this sound system."

"Chloe…," Max said.

"Oh, come on," Chloe said, "do you know how awesome it would be to rock out with this?"

"I'm sure it would," Max said, "but we're supposed to leave no evidence that we were here."

"Yeah, but do you think they'd even notice it was gone?" Chloe said.

Max tilted her head.

"You know...maybe not," Max said, "there wouldn't be anything else missing...and with no alarms or camera evidence…"

"Uh huh," Chloe said brightly, nodding.

"But how would you haul it out of here? I count six tower speakers plus the hub, wherever it is," Max said, walking over to the drawers nearest the desk.

"Oh...good point," Chloe said, her face falling, "next time I'll bring duffel bags."

Max shook her head and opened the first drawer.

Chloe sighed and opened a cabinet.

She said, "maybe I'll get lucky and find hella cash somewhere in here."

They began going through the drawers and cabinets and it wasn't long before Max found a set of folders marked: MASTER PHOTOGRAPHY.

"Got them!" Max said.

Chloe came over and rolled her eyes.

"Dude, I was honestly holding out some hope that he didn't actually use that label," Chloe said.

"Yeah, I think I was too," Max said.

"Well, better get them away from me before I throw up on them," Chloe said.

Chloe returned to searching through cabinets while Max brought the folders over to the desk. The thickness of the folders concerned her...there seemed to be a few hundred photos in the set. It would take a while to go through all of these and Max didn't want to use her rewind unless she had to.

_Okay_ , Max thought, _Nathan indicated that the numbers he used for his safe were somehow linked to these photos. Step one: see if there's a group of these that have numbers in them. Step two: eliminate any with numbers that wouldn't work on Nathan's zero to one hundred safe. Step three: hope that step one and two leave me with only a few photos left._

She opened up the first folder and began searching. As was typical of Nathan's photography, Max found that each one's subject matter ranged from distasteful to disturbing. But the composition and technique? Very good...in fact Max felt that Victoria probably hadn't been giving Nathan enough credit for his technical skill...but Max would still agree that Victoria's work was better. As for her own work…

_I've always thought that my photography is_ okay, Max thought, _but everyone keeps telling me that it's great. Victoria, Mr. Jefferson...as shitty as that sounds, Kate, Daniel, Chloe...shit, maybe I should start listening to them._

After about a dozen photos, she found one with a number. It was a shot of a possum, dead on the side of the road. A 101 freeway sign was visible in the background.

_Okay_ , Max thought, _101 isn't valid, but at least I found one with a number._

She set it aside and continued looking. She'd only gone through a few more when Chloe exclaimed, "holy shit! Jackpot! Cha-ching!"

Max hurried over to where Chloe was bent over a drawer, an envelope in her hand. And in the envelope…

"Max!" Chloe said, "this envelope is stuffed with cash! I think I found Nathan's drug money stash!"

"That looks like enough for you to pay Frank back," Max said.

"Yeah, with some left to spare," Chloe said, finishing her count of the hundred dollar bills, "there's four thousand in here!"

"Wowser, Chloe," Max said, "you seem to have a supernatural talent for finding giant wads of cash."

"Oh, and I intend to keep looking," Chloe said, "I bet this isn't the only cash Nathan has stashed around here and...um...actually...any objections? To, you know, taking this?"

Max put up her hands and said, "nope. When you found the cash in Principal Wells' desk in the other timeline, I was super conflicted. Not so much over Nathan's drug money."

"Awesome," Chloe said, pocketing the money. She then looked up at Max and said, "you know I'm going to share this with you, right? Anything extra after Frank's paid off, that is," Chloe said.

"I...hmm...when you took the money from Wells' office, you did say that you'd take me on a roadtrip to Portland," Max said.

"Dude, that sounds fucking amazing!" Chloe said, "we are definitely doing that. You up for next weekend?"

"Hella yes," Max said, grinning.

Chloe began rummaging through the remaining drawers and cabinets while Max returned to Nathan's photos. A few minutes later, Chloe found another envelope with two thousand more in it and her mood could only be described as ecstatic. Meanwhile, the pile of photos with numbers in them was slowly growing.

"Max, I'm going to explore the rest of this place," Chloe said after finishing her search through the office, "shout if you need anything."

"You too!" Max called after her.

Max continued to sort and heard Chloe say, "the second door on the right is another storage room!"

"Okay!" she called back.

A few moments later Chloe called out, "second door on the left is a bedroom. Needs redecoration. Too much Nathan."

Max was finally about halfway through the stack when Chloe came running back in.

"Max, I found something amazing," Chloe said.

"What is it?" Max said, freezing with a photo in her hand.

"Can't tell you. I'll show you in a few minutes," Chloe said before darting back out.

A moment later she darted back in and said, "oh, and the last room on the left is just full of pumps and fuse boxes and shit and the door at the end is to the outside, I think." She ducked back out.

Max smiled and continued sorting.

**. . . . .**

When she finally finished, she'd assembled a stack of about thirty photos with numbers in them. She pulled out her camera and sighed.

 _This is going to take a lot of film_ , Max thought.

She placed the first picture in front of her and was about to snap a photo when Chloe walked in.

"Dude, why are you taking pictures of those with your camera instead of your phone?" Chloe said, "isn't your film, like, rare and expensive?"

Max lowered the camera, her eyes wide and and an embarrassed blush coloring her cheeks.

"How did I not think of that?" she said quietly.

"Probably because you've been in hipster photography overdrive for so long," Chloe said.

"I feel like an idiot," Max said.

"Don't beat yourself up," Chloe said, patting Max's arm, "you're hella smart and talented ninety-nine percent of the time; you just hit that one percent."

Max put her camera away and pulled out her phone, snapping pictures of Nathan's number-containing photos. Only eleven of the photos in that stack had numbers in the combination range but she took pictures of all of them anyways. She finished and looked up at Chloe, who had an impish look on her face. In fact she was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Did you find more money?" Max asked, eyebrows raised.

"Er, yes, actually," Chloe said, "another few grand in Nathan's nightstand drawer. I can't believe how much cash I'm gobbling up here. But there's that other thing..."

"So does this mean I'm going to find out what you were so excited about earlier?" Max asked.

"Yep yep," Chloe said.

"Okay, give me one second," Max said, carefully placing Nathan's pictures back into their folders and into the drawer. She followed Chloe over to the bedroom, which definitely had the Nathan-like vibe that Chloe had mentioned. It also looked like it hadn't been lived in for years.

"Wait here," Chloe said, slipping through a door at the side of the room. Max guessed that it must be a bathroom.

Max wandered around the bedroom. There weren't any pictures or papers visible. She opened a closet and saw rows of clothes in plastic bags.

_What a weird place_ , Max thought.

After a minute, Chloe appeared again.

"Okay, come on back," she said.

Max followed Chloe into the bathroom. To the left was a counter and toilet. To the right the room turned a corner. Max followed Chloe around the corner and saw a shower at the end. Chloe stepped through a door on the left and Max followed, finding herself in a warm, humid room; at the center was a raised hot tub.

"Nathan's apartment has a fucking hot tub!" Chloe yelled. She was already pulling off her shirt.

"Are you cereal?" Max said, "you want to get into a hot tub down _here?_ "

"Yeah, come on, Max," Chloe said, "Doctor Price's orders: relax in a hot tub. I even made sure it's not too hot. Perfect temperature."

" _You_ filled it up?" Max said.

"Yeah, that's why it took so long before I could show you," Chloe said.

"I don't know, Chloe," Max said, "this is _Nathan's_ hot tub, after all. Doesn't that gross you out?"

Chloe stopped disrobing with one pant leg still halfway on.

"Ew," Chloe said, "...but wait, hold on. He hasn't stayed here for longer than a few minutes in years! And like you said, they clean this place! Nope, not stopping me with that one, Caulfield. And doctor's orders still stand." She finished removing her pants and stepped up to the rim of the hot tub.

Max stood clutching her left elbow and staring at Chloe. She found herself conflicted. Part of her wanted to just bolt and go home, part of her wanted to relax in that inviting hot water, and yet another part of her, to her surprise, was very much enjoying just staring at Chloe.

Chloe stepped down into the water and sighed loudly.

"This is awesome, Max," she said, lowering herself fully, "splish splash."

Max walked closer to the tub and Chloe splashed her.

"Hey!" Max said.

"Only way to stop me is to get in here, hippie," Chloe said.

Max smiled and said, "okay, fine. You're right, I could definitely use some relaxation."

She put her bag on the floor near the door and undressed, putting her shoes, socks, and gloves next to her bag and piling her hoodie, shirt, and pants on top of her bag. She turned and noticed Chloe watching her.

"Looking good, Max," Chloe said, grinning.

_Is she checking me out?_ , Max thought, blushing, _I guess it's only fair...after all, I was staring at_ her _just a moment ago. But come on, I can't look as great as she does._

But Chloe was still stealing glances in Max's direction and Max felt something surprising: her self-consciousness, her constant companion for years, seemed to fade with Chloe's eyes on her like that.

_Maybe it's like the photos thing_ , she thought, _maybe I'm just too damn hard on myself. I really should start paying attention to how others appreciate my work...and me._

She smiled, climbed the hot tub steps, and stepped down into the water; the temperature was perfect.

She sat in the tub and sank down so that her chin touched the water's surface.

"This _is_ nice," Max said, smiling.

"Told you, you dork," Chloe said, reaching over and punching Max lightly on the shoulder.

"Thanks for this," Max said, "we do need it."

"No kidding," Chloe said.

"Oh wait," Max said, sitting up, "this isn't going to mess with your bandage, is it?"

"Eh," Chloe said, "I don't think so. I'll just change it when we get home. Put the special goop on it. The doctors said I could get it wet."

"That's good," Max said, sinking back down.

"The only thing that would make this more perfect would be a couple of beers," Chloe said.

"Yuck," Max said.

"You're so cute," Chloe said, putting her arms up on the rim of the tub and putting her legs up on Max's knees.

Max felt a surprising succession of sensations at that.

"Shit, I almost forgot," Chloe said, reaching behind her.

She pressed a button and the tub's jets came to life. Bubbles popped to the surface all around them and Max shifted slightly to place a pair of jets on her back.

"That feels really good," she said, feeling more of her tension melt away.

"Yep," Chloe said, "this is the life."

"Yeah," Max said, nodding and leaning back.

They sat silently for a few moments before Chloe cleared her throat.

"Er...speaking of life," Chloe said, "what do you think you're going to do? You know, when you graduate from Blackwell?"

Max thought for a moment.

"College, I guess," she said, "I hadn't thought too much about it yet. I suppose I'll find somewhere with a good photography program."

"Have you, um, sent out photos at all?" Chloe said, "sorry, I don't really know how that works."

" _I'm_ still figuring that out," Max said, "and no, not yet." She shifted a little; the subject of putting her work out there always made her a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, sorry," Chloe said, lifting her legs.

"No, you're fine," Max said, "I just get a little twitchy when I think about showing my work to the public."

"You shouldn't," Chloe said, resting her legs back on Max's knees, "you know how your friend Daniel puts his sketches on Facebook?"

"Yeah," Max said.

"He's putting his work out there," Chloe said.

"Yeah but he's so good at…," Max started.

"Aha!" Chloe said, pointing at Max, "I knew you were going to start with that. Max, you're good at what you do. Really. And of course it won't go perfectly. But you can't let that take you down. Every artist has to get rejected a few times. But when it comes down to it, you're awesome, your photos are awesome, and they're going to be big!"

Max sunk down and blew bubbles in the water.

"I'll take that as an acceptance of my wisdom," Chloe said, putting her hands behind her head.

"What about you?" Max said, rising back up, "you said you're going to get a job and take some classes. Where do you think you're headed?"

"Honestly, wherever you go," she said, "...uh, if that's not, like, creepy or anything."

"No, of course not," Max said, putting a hand on Chloe's knee, "I never want us to be apart again. Ever."

Chloe grinned and said, "then that's the plan! I follow you around, taking jobs and classes until I do...something. It seems so long ago but I remember actually kind of enjoying school. Maybe I'll get that spark again. Maybe I'll be a punk writer. Or a punk scientist. Or a punk lawyer."

Chloe raised her hand up and said, "your honor, I hella object because the witness's CD collection is entirely shitty pop music!"

"Sustained!" Max said.

Chloe sighed and said, "and hey, maybe we can travel the world someday, like we always wanted. You taking photos, me being your bodyguard."

"You know," Max said, "those kinds of dreams seem so believable when you're a kid and then so unrealistic when you're our age...but I really think we could do it."

"Does that have anything to do with you being Max the Timebender?" Chloe said.

"I'm sure it will continue to provide us with advantages," Max said with a sly smile.

"Like free use of a fancy underground hot tub?" Chloe said.

"Indeed," Max said, "...or we could always fall back to Victoria's suggestion."

"Victoria's suggestion?" Chloe asked dryly.

"Yeah, remember when I overheard her and Taylor from the shower?" Max said.

Chloe nodded.

"She was making fun of my snooping habits by saying she could imagine you and I following skeevy people around as private investigators," Max said.

"Dude," Chloe said, "that sounds kind of awesome!"

"I know," Max said, "it rubs against my artistic side a bit, to be honest, but," she gestured around them, "it would seem to fit our skill set."

"Dealing with cheaters and insurance fraudsters? Doesn't sound like the most appealing thing in the world," Chloe said, "but you're right, we'd be hella good at it."

"Alright," Max said, "we'll take Travel Photography and Adventuring as Plan A and Private Investigators as Plan B."

"Awesomesauce, the future is _planned_ ," Chloe said.

Max grinned.

"Hold on a sec," Chloe said, removing her legs from atop Max's and scooting over, "need a different angle on my back here...ahh, nice."

Max also took the opportunity to shift over. The Prescotts had purchased a very nice tub with jets at different heights. If Max continued rotating around the tub, she was pretty sure she'd get a complete back massage.

Chloe put her legs back up and said, "you never really told me much about Seattle."

"Past me didn't say anything about it?" Max said.

"No," Chloe said, "you talked a lot about Blackwell and Warren and Kate. Hell, I kinda thought you had a thing for Warren."

"I suppose I almost did," Max said, "he's a pretty great guy, really. He was also sort of the only option for someone as clueless to romantic interests as me."

That made Chloe laugh.

"But yeah, Seattle...," Max said, "It's okay, I guess. More fun if you're visiting, I think. I'll have to take you there sometime."

"I will totally take you up on that," Chloe said, "how was school up there?"

"Eh, same as anywhere else," Max said, "I did well enough to transfer to Blackwell."

"Have any friends? Boyfriends? Girlfriends?" Chloe said.

"I...well, never any friendships like yours and mine, that's for sure," Max said, "I sort of curled up into a ball after I left here. I preferred to observe the world rather than participate in it. I guess that's a decent perspective for a photographer...but not necessarily a great perspective otherwise. So the simple answer to your first question is sort of and the answer to the second and third questions is 'haha, yeah right.' If there was anyone who had interest in me, I had no clue."

Chloe grinned and said, "what about the 'sort of' in there?"

"Ah, there were two classmates I hung around with fairly often: Kristen and Fernando. They had a lot more in common with one another than with me but I tagged along, took photos, introduced them to some movies and anime they'd never heard of," Max said.

"Man," Chloe said, "I always used to think that you were living it up, finding a new Chloe and just rocking out up there. I resented it, which I'm not proud of...and don't you dare apologize again, Max Caulfield."

Max had opened her mouth and shut it with an audible pop.

Chloe smiled and continued, "...but it sounds like you were more of a hermit than I was."

"Yeah, I think I was," Max said, "I guess I had a Chloe-shaped hole in my life for five years and just sort of ran on low-power mode, chugging along, taking my photos…"

"And becoming a hipster," Chloe interjected.

"Hey," Max said, "just because I like coffee that takes 40 minutes to make, wear vintage scarves, and have at least a six month lead on music tastes over everyone else…"

"Do you really wait 40 minutes for coffee?" Chloe said.

"Ugh, no," Max said, "I was joking. I thought the scarves thing would give it away."

"Ah, right," Chloe said.

"If you want seriously intense hipster," Max said, "go find Evan Harris at Blackwell."

"Oh yeah I know him!" Chloe said, "mega hipster."

"I keep forgetting that you were at Blackwell," Max said, "I know it's not, you know, the best subject...but how was it?"

"Ugh, fucking crazy," Chloe said, "I was such an asshole. I only ever really hung out with the skater guys. They were great...but even _I_ have limits on how often I want to get stoned."

"You had Rachel too," Max said.

"Yeah," Chloe said with a smile, "I did have Rachel. I would've been in a very bad place without her. As it was I was sleeping around, badmouthing teachers, skipping school, taking drugs, being a complete jerk. On one level it was fun, I have to admit. The carefree attitude, the do whatever the fuck...but all those stupid PSAs were kinda right. All that shit fucking sucks when you realize there's nothing behind it. I wrecked my education, never had sex with anyone I really cared about, and could've easily fucked myself up completely if I ever took a bad hit."

She looked at Max, "that's one big reason why I'm so selfishly glad to have you back. I had a Max-shaped hole. And I guess I never realized it before but I was trying to fill it with all that other shit. And not even Rachel could fill that hole."

Max felt her heart melt again and a small smile lit up her face.

_What do I even say to that?_ she thought, staring over at Chloe.

Chloe looked thoughtful but then her expression became oddly expectant, a smile tugging at her lips.

_She clearly expects me to say_ something _...so, what would Chloe say?_ Max thought, _I know, she'd make an awful joke...but what?...ah!_

"Chloe," Max said, "I think that you, in an elaborate way, just called me fat."

"Wait what?" Chloe said, "I don't...ohhhh. Ha! I get it: Max is larger than Rachel plus skater boys plus tons of alcohol and drugs. Not the direction I thought you'd take..."

"What did you think I'd go for?" Max said.

"Dude, the runway was paved and lit up," Chloe said, "the whole 'filling holes' thing? I could've sworn you would go for something about 'filling each other's holes!'"

Max splashed Chloe, saying, "you are such...a huge...dork."

Chloe laughed and splashed back, saying, "don't lie, you think that shit is hilarious."

Max splashed back and said, "did you say all of that as a setup for _that_ joke?"

"No!" Chloe said, ducking out of the way and splashing back, "meant every word. Realized the awesome potential right _after_ I finished saying it!"

"You're insane," Max said, failing to dodge Chloe's splash and spluttering.

Chloe laughed and said, "yep yep! And come on, you always used to giggle at my dirty humor when we were kids."

"Well yeah," Max said, landing a splash onto Chloe's face, "but that particular arsenal of yours has grown a lot since then."

"Damn right," Chloe said, shaking water off of her face and lounging back. Max took the opportunity to splash again.

"Oh that's it," Chloe said, lunging forward across the tub and bringing her fingers to Max's sides.

Max started laughing uncontrollably, churning the water as she tried to fight off Chloe's tickling. She managed to get in under Chloe's arms and bring her own fingers to Chloe's sides.

Chloe immediately shrieked and fell back laughing.

"Okay okay," she said through short breaths, "no more! I know to give up as soon as you get the upper hand."

"Damn right," Max said with a big smile, sitting back down.

She stared over at Chloe, who was still chuckling under her breath, her eyes sparkling.

_Should I kiss her?_ Max thought.

The thought came so quickly and so unexpectedly that Max almost jumped. Her nerves fluttered and she felt her cheeks redden.

_Maybe...this is the opportunity I've been waiting for?_ she thought, _all I'd have to do is scoot over and...um...kiss her. But wait...do I ask her first? That would be polite...but no, that would be so silly. Do I grab her hand or something. Or her face? That would be weird. I did this before; it wasn't difficult then! I guess it was easier when I didn't have a real chance to think about it. And it was a dare..._

She continued to stare over at Chloe, her eyes darting to Chloe's lips.

_Argh, it would be so awkward...I'd have to stand up and walk to the other side of the tub...or scoot around the outside. It would be dead obvious and I'd feel like a complete doofus the whole way. I mean, I want to do it...right? Yes, yes I do._

That thought sent another flutter of nerves and excitement through her. Chloe looked over at Max with a half smile.

_Oh shit, she knows. Gah, how could she not know? What do I do? Maybe she'll do it? Ugh, maybe I'm just not ready for this yet._

Max shivered. The water was starting to feel cold.

"Yeah," Chloe said, the smile still on her face, "it's getting a bit cold in here. Maybe we'll sneak back in tomorrow...or finally break into the Blackwell pool! Adventure awaits!"

Max smiled back, "agreed. Let's get out of here before we freeze. We'll come up with our next big plan later."

Chloe rose up and stepped out of the tub.

"Fuck," she said, "it _is_ cold. Be back in a second."

She disappeared around the corner into the bathroom.

_Did I fuck up?_ Max thought, _did I blow my chance there? I don't think so...if anything, it was like Chloe knew_ exactly _what I was thinking. I wouldn't be surprised...I probably had all of the subtlety of a drooling groupie._

Max rose out of the tub as Chloe returned bearing large, fluffy towels.

"Shit," Max said, shivering, "it _is_ super cold."

"Here," Chloe said, throwing her a towel.

They dried off as best as they could.

"I guess I didn't really think of the fact that we'd be walking around in damp underclothes," Max said, "I'm not sure I want to sleep in hot tub underwear."

"If they're still bothering you when we get back to my place, just grab a pair of mine," Chloe said, "it might surprise you, but I do keep clean underwear around."

Max put on an exaggerated expression of shock and mimed a monocle popping from her eye.

Chloe laughed and Max said, "do you think they'd fit?"

"Yeah, I think we're close enough to the same size," Chloe said.

They pulled their clothes on and Chloe went to open the tub's drain. Max eyed the floor, where small pools of water showed the collateral damage of their brief splash war.

"Hey Chloe," Max said with a sinking sensation, "I just realized that there's a lot of evidence here that someone used the tub."

"Yeah, I thought of that when I came in here and I think it's okay," Chloe said, "see that switch over there?" She pointed to a box on the far wall, "I'm pretty sure it's a ventilation shaft. Give it a few hours and everything in here will be evaporated and out. That, plus no alarms or video evidence, means no reason for anyone to look too carefully."

"Good point," Max said, "what about the towels?"

"Wring them out, fold them up, put them back," Chloe said, "with how little traffic there is down here, I bet no one ever notices."

"Nice," Max said, letting out a breath.

"You sound pretty relieved over towels and water," Chloe said, walking over to open the vents.

"I just really didn't want to have to rewind that," Max said.

" _You_ would've remembered it," Chloe said. She paused at the controls and said, "awesome, vents already open."

"Yeah, but I don't want to erase _anything_ like this that we've shared," Max said.

Chloe grinned at Max and said, "I won't complain about _that_ policy!"

They left the bathroom, folding the towels and putting them away as Chloe suggested while Max tried hard to ignore the damp underclothes. They did one more cursory search through the apartment. Max didn't expect to find anything and was surprised when Chloe called her back to the bedroom.

"Can't believe I missed this," Chloe said. She had pushed some of the bagged clothes in a closet aside and at the bottom was a small safe.

"Looks like we get to practice the combinations," Max said, "I wonder if Nathan is just as lazy with his safe combinations as he is with his door ones."

Max crouched down by the safe as Chloe watched from above.

"Sweet," Max said, looking at the combination, "this only goes up to 60."

She pulled out her phone and flipped through Nathan's photo numbers. Out of the eleven that were 100 or less, only four were 60 or less...and one of them was 57, supposedly the final number.

"Alright, if I'm right about this, there are only six possibilities to try," Max said.

On the fourth combination, the tiny door clicked open.

"Max, you are a _boss!_ " Chloe said, laughing, "what's in there? Gold? Jewelry? More cash?"

Max reached in and pulled out the only two objects in the safe: a folded piece of paper and a wooden cylinder.

"That's...disappointing," Chloe said, "...what's on the paper?"

Max handed the paper up to Chloe and examined the cylinder; it looked to be very old and was intricately carved with images of animals.

"'To my son, Nathan,'" Chloe read aloud, "'this artifact is one of several in our family's collection. It is part of our legacy and our future. Treasure it and keep it safe always. Your Father.' Dude, he didn't even say 'love' in there. Can I see that?"

"Sure," Max said, raising the cylinder.

When Chloe grabbed it, Max felt a sudden shock in her fingers and Chloe jumped. They dropped the cylinder to the floor.

"Ow!" they both said.

"What the fuck?" Chloe said, rubbing her fingers, "were you rubbing your feet on the floor or something?"

"No," Max said, rubbing her own fingers, which were still tingling, "besides, I have shoes on. I think you need to be in socks to do that."

"That was hella weird," Chloe said, gingerly picking up the cylinder. She looked it over, shrugged, and handed it back to Max. There was no shock this time as Max took it back.

"Think we should take it?" Chloe said.

"No," Max said.

"Could be worth something," Chloe said.

"Maybe," Max said, "but I have a feeling that this is important to Mr. Prescott. If it vanishes, we might run into some trouble down the road."

Chloe sighed and said, "you're probably right." She handed the note back to Max as well.

Max put the items back and closed the safe.

"At least we know what the combination is," Max said, "and since that's what we came here for...and since we've thoroughly utilized this place's amenities, it's probably time to get the hell out of here."

"Okay, but let me look around one more time," Chloe said, "see if I can find any more safes!"

While Chloe dug through the closets, Max went out into the living room and decided to look under couch cushions. Her search yielded her a quarter and two pennies. Chloe was still searching so Max went into the kitchen, looking through drawers and cupboards. She discovered an envelope in one drawer, just like those that contained the stacks of cash that Chloe had found. However, excitement turned to disappointment: the envelope had only $15 in it.

_Chloe has the gift for finding cash_ , Max thought, _not me._

Chloe finally finished her search.

"Nope," Chloe said, "nothing else. You find anything?"

"Yeah," Max said, handing over the cash and change, "here's my contribution to our fund."

"Max," Chloe said, taking the money, "you are truly hilarious. Much appreciated though."

With their work complete, they turned out the lights and went to the door leading back up into the mansion.

"What time is it?" Max asked.

Chloe pulled out her phone and said, "almost 1:30."

"Crazy, I don't even feel that tired," Max said, reaching for the door.

"Ha, me neither," Chloe said.

Max opened the door and found herself staring at a security guard. Her heart seemed to stop. Chloe yelped beside her and the guard looked as surprised as Max felt, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open. Max slammed the door closed and immediately rewound.


	12. The Great Escape

Max stopped her rewind and stood alone in front of the apartment door. She spun around and rushed back to the bedroom.

"Chloe!" Max said.

"Oh hey, I didn't find anything else…," Chloe said before seeing Max's face, "oh shit what happened?"

"One of the guards was on the stairs when we opened the door," Max said quickly, "it looked like he was getting ready to come in here."

"What!?" Chloe said, "but I thought...it sounded like they never come down here."

"Come on," Max said, "I don't think he's down the stairs yet, let's see if I can get some information."

They hurried over to the front door and Max opened it; the stairs were empty.

"Turn off the lights," Max whispered. She heard a click and everything went dark.

"Stay here," Max said. She climbed the stairs as quickly and as quietly as she could and opened the door at the top.

She listened carefully and soon heard a familiar voice: Jim the guard.

"...haven't been down there before. Only just got the code."

Grumpy Rob's voice mumbled in the distance.

"No," came Jim's voice, closer, "the instructions were specific: check the whole house and then the bunkers...and only _one_ of us goes down into the bunkers at a time. I'm saying we check this one first, then the other one. You can look through the other one when we get to it."

Grumpy Rob's voice again.

"I know I know but we get paid pretty damn well for this. If the boss has a wacky request to search everywhere more thoroughly, we do it. The guy here before me said he'd get random shit like this all the time," Jim said.

Grumpy Rob's voice again.

"I know you don't like to patrol the grounds! Jesus, why did you take this job if you hate everything about it? Besides, there's two more guys coming up from the house in town to help with the grounds. Just sounds like old Prescott got paranoid," Jim said. He'd stopped a few steps away from the door but Max held her ground.

Grumpy Rob's voice again.

"No, the alarms would've gone off. And if he had anything more specific, he would've told us. This is just paranoia...all rich people have it," Jim said. He started towards the door again and Max turned and ran down the stairs.

She heard Jim call out, "what the hell? Who's there?" behind her but she'd already bolted into the apartment door and started rewinding.

She stopped at the same point as before and rushed into the bedroom to relay what she'd learned. Chloe's face turned from shock to worry.

"Can we rewind further and go up before they're in the house?" Chloe said.

"I don't know...maybe as a last resort," Max said, "that would be a long rewind."

She could almost feel how painful that would be.

"Can we leave through the door at the other end of the apartment?" Chloe said.

"I think that one has a camera watching it," Max said, "at least if what Victoria said was correct."

"Shit...um...we could try going up and dodging around the guards," Chloe said.

"It'll be really hard to get around them," Max said, "they're probably a lot more alert than before. I think we're best off trying to hide down here and then sneak out while they're checking the other bunker."

"What do you think is in the other bunker?" Chloe said.

"No idea," Max said, "maybe Mr. or Mrs. Prescott has a collection of ceramic eggs or petrified duck heads or something."

"What if we can't find a hiding spot in here?" Chloe said.

"Then we try your plan," Max said, "we'll get out of this; we've got the rewind."

Chloe slapped a hand on Max's shoulder and said, "I know we will. I trust in Super Max."

They began searching, room by room. Every time the apartment's bunker door clicked open, Max rewound. After an intense search, they found no good hiding places. Max was about to give up when Chloe looked as if a lightbulb had lit above her head.

"I wonder if there's a bolt hole down here," she said.

"A what?" Max said.

"A bolt hole," Chloe said, "that one website said that big fancy houses always have bolt holes...secret doors that lead to hidden rooms or tunnels or shit."

"Isn't that the website that also said that the Prescotts are lizard people?" Max said.

"Yeah," Chloe said, "but why not check?"

They went through the apartment again, this time scanning the walls for anything out of the ordinary: hinges, switches, latches.

Max had rewound twice and had just finished groping the entire length of Nathan's bedroom wall when Chloe bounded in, beckoning Max out.

"No...you must be kidding," Max said.

"Bolt hole," Chloe said, a triumphant grin on her face.

She led Max over to the storage room closest to the living room. One of the shelves along the wall pivoted outwards, revealing a squat tunnel.

"I don't believe it," Max said.

"If _this_ is true, maybe the Prescotts _are_ lizard people," Chloe said with a chuckle.

Max was about to reply when they heard the bunker door click open.

"Alright, Chloe, I promise I'll tell you that you found this like a badass," Max said.

"You better," Chloe said.

Max rewound and led Chloe to the bolt hole.

After thoroughly congratulating herself, Chloe said, "do you think we could just leave through this?"

"Er, we can make it an option but we have no idea where it goes or if it's monitored at all," Max said.

"Then hiding spot it is," Chloe said.

They turned off all of the lights in the apartment and made their way back to the bolt hole with their phone lights. They crouched just inside the tunnel, closed the shelf-door, and extinguished their lights.

And then they waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Chloe fidgeted nervously in the dark. As a person of action, waiting in a tunnel and doing nothing aggravated her intensely; her mind screamed at her to jump out and _do_ something.

And as a person of observation, Max felt her nerves become increasingly frayed in the silent dark. Her heart pounded and the temptation to simply turn on her light...to see something...was profound.

"Fuck, I'm going to go crazy in here," Chloe whispered.

"Me too," Max said.

Chloe reached out and grabbed Max's hands.

More moments slipped by slowly before they heard the muffled sound of the bunker door opening. Chloe's hands tightened around Max's.

Max breathed as quietly as she could. She didn't know how many more rewinds she had in her. Her head was pounding...at least there wasn't any blood yet.

They heard footsteps out in the hall.

Max thought she heard something in the distance and then the guard's sudden voice made both her and Chloe jump.

"Would you shut up, Rob? I've never been down here before so give me a few minutes," came Jim's voice from just outside the storage room.

Jim entered the room, his footsteps echoing loudly on the bare floor. Max held her breath. The footsteps stopped right outside the bolt hole door.

_Are you fucking kidding me?_ Max thought.

"Shit," came Jim's voice, mumbling, "they've got better crap on these doomsday shelves down here than I've got in my cupboards."

The footsteps and mumbles moved away and then out of the room. Max let out a breath.

The sounds of Jim's search continued outside. Both Max and Chloe's hands were clammy but they continued to grasp each other tightly. Chloe began lightly tapping the ground with her foot.

"Fuck," Chloe whispered, "how long does it fucking take? He's just waving a flashlight around!"

Max shrugged, realized Chloe couldn't see it, and whispered, "no idea. Let's just hope he doesn't decide to take a dip in the hot tub."

"Oh shit," Chloe whispered, "what if he sees how wet it is in there?"

Max's mind whirled.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Max said.

"Dude, you may have to use your photo," Chloe said.

"I really really don't want to," Max said.

"Yeah, I don't want you to either," Chloe sighed.

They sat in the tense silence, listening. Max half expected to hear Jim running to report that someone had been down here. She stared into the dark, where she could barely see Chloe's outline across from her.

_I definitely don't want to use the photo and erase all of this from her memory_ , Max thought, _this may be shitty at the moment, but I haven't seen Chloe have that much fun in years. Besides, it would also wipe out all of the money she nabbed...that would suck._

The sound of slow footsteps reached their ears and both Max and Chloe tensed further.

"Hey Rob!" echoed Jim's voice, "there ain't nothing down here but fancy furniture. Let's check the other one."

Max could just make out a distant mumble from Grumpy Rob.

"Yes!" Chloe whispered and Max grinned in the dark.

Her smile quickly faded though...they weren't out of this yet.

As soon as they heard the apartment's door close, Chloe pushed the bolt hole door open. Max wondered briefly if it might be a trap, with Jim having closed the door to lure any hidden intruders out. But even if he had, they had the rewind.

Still, Max felt intensely nervous as they crept forward in the dark. As she reached for her phone to light the way, she collided with one of the storage shelves. She gasped and reached out but it was too late: the shelf toppled with a tremendous crash and Chloe yelped.

_Gah_ , Max thought, _why am I always knocking things over!?_

Before the guards could come rushing back or Chloe could make a comment, Max stepped back and rewound.

Upon stopping, she immediately pulled out her phone and lit the room.

"Good call," Chloe said, "...don't want to knock any of these shelves over."

"Um…," Max said.

Chloe turned and said, "you knocked one over, didn't you?"

"I'm beginning to think that you have telepathy," Max hissed.

"Nope," Chloe said with a grin, "just best friend sense."

They reached the apartment door without springing any traps and made their way to the top of the stairs, opening the door to find a quiet hall. Max leaned out and could see flickers of light: flashlights elsewhere in the house.

"Now what?" Chloe said.

"I have an idea about that," Max said, "you stay here and I'll figure out how to get us past them and to the door we came in through. Trial and error...if they see me, I run back here and rewind."

"You sure you're not, you know, rewinded out?" Chloe said.

"I got some rest back there waiting for Sunny Jim to finish poking around," Max said.

"You call that _rest?_ " Chloe said, "I was freaked the fuck out. I'm _still_ freaked the fuck out."

"Well yeah, me too," Max said, "but I wasn't rewinding."

"True enough," Chloe said, "...okay then, I hate not having your back but go for it."

Max put her bag on the floor and began walking down the hall, retracing the path they took to reach the apartment. Max figured that the moon must have set; the house seemed darker than before.

She passed by the kitchen and stepped into the central hall. She could've sworn that she heard something over the sound of ticking clocks but couldn't see anything moving nearby. She started across the hall but jumped as an unfamiliar voice spoke up.

"What the…?" the voice said and Max was nearly blinded by a flashlight beam.

"Who the hell are you?" the voice shouted.

Max spun around and bolted back towards the bunker.

"Hey! Stop right there!" the voice called out. Max could hear him running after her.

Max ran past the kitchen and around the corner, seeing Chloe wide-eyed in front of her. Max skidded to a stop next to Chloe and rewound just as the flashlight beam washed over them. The beam disappeared in the rewind and Max kept going until just before she'd set out.

"...go for i...hey, you sort of jumped a bit there," Chloe said, "did you just rewind?"

"Yeah," Max said, out of breath, "didn't even...see him...our buddies...got their reinforcements."

"Shit, how many?" Chloe said.

"Jim said that they were...getting a couple of guys up from the other place...so I'm guessing four total now?" Max said.

"Know where they all are?" Chloe said.

"I'm guessing that...whew...I'm guessing Jim and Grumpy Rob are over at the other bunker and I know that my new friend is creepily hanging out near the front door," Max said, "don't know where the other one is."

"Fuck, what do we do now?" Chloe said.

"Same plan," Max said, "give me a moment; I'll rewind again and try to find another way."

"Okay," Chloe said, "I'll keep hanging out here."

Max finally calmed down and rewound.

"...go for...whoa, you jumped there," Chloe said, "did you…"

"Sorry, Chloe," Max whispered, already moving, "have to try a different way."

Chloe nodded as Max walked quietly again towards the center hall. She poked her head out and could see where the new guard was standing. He was partially obscured near the front door, shifting his weight from foot to foot silently.

Max looked around the hall; there didn't appear to be any way to cross it that would keep her hidden. She tried to sneak out slowly, pressing herself against the wall and making for Mr. Prescott's study, gritting her teeth.

_No way I want to go back in there_ , Max thought, _but if it's the only way to get out..._

Unfortunately, she travelled only a few more steps before the guard noticed movement and illuminated Max in the flashlight beam. She ran back to Chloe and rewound.

This time she tried to find a way around the hall, heading into the kitchen and searching for a door that might lead behind. No luck; Max returned and rewound again.

This time Max searched in the opposite direction, looking for a way to go upstairs. She tried door after door, wincing with each knob turn and hoping that the tiny sounds wouldn't draw attention. She was thankful that the house's cleaning staff appeared to be highly attentive to detail: none of the doors squeaked when opened.

She finally found a stairway leading up. She rewound to give herself more time and climbed the stairs, finding a long carpeted hallway at the top. She followed it to the center of the house, where it opened up into the wide expanse of the central hall, continuing along a balcony that overlooked the floor below. Max peeked around the corner and could see the partially-concealed guard below.

_If I keep over to the far side_ , Max thought, _he shouldn't be able to see me._

Max started across, hugging the wall. She glanced over and couldn't even see the top of the guard's hat. She stood on her tip-toes. _Chloe height_ , she thought, peering down. She still couldn't see the guard.

_Perfect_ , she thought.

She continued on until, about three-quarters of the way across, the floor uttered a traitorous creak as she stepped down.

"Shit," she said. The guard's flashlight snapped on and the beam raked the balcony.

"Who's there?" the guard shouted.

"Your mother!" Max yelled back, taking a few steps back and rewinding before the guard could respond. She wanted to stomp in frustration...she'd been close, she could feel it.

She halted her rewind and continued across the balcony, taking a large step over the creaky spot. Her foot landed on the other side without a sound and she continued on, reaching the concealment of the hall on the far side.

From there, she quickly found the stairs that her and Chloe had climbed earlier in the night to hide from Grumpy Rob. She descended to the hall they'd originally started from. The hall was empty...although Max could hear Jim's voice and see the dim glow of a flashlight coming from around the corner.

_They must still be checking out that other bunker_ , Max thought.

She proceeded to the door to the outside, pressed the OPEN button on the keypad, and opened the door. Cool air flowed over her and no alarms sounded. She breathed a sigh of relief.

After closing the door, she jogged directly back to Chloe. Voices called out in alarm around her and she was pretty sure she had both Jim and guy by the door chasing her. She got back to Chloe and immediately rewound as far as she dared.

"Now wh…," Chloe started, then, "dude, did you just rewind?"

"Yep," Max said, catching her breath, "all part of the plan. I have a way out, just follow me and stay very quiet."

"Lead the way, Bat Max," Chloe whispered, picking up the crowbar.

Max hefted her bag onto her shoulder and took Chloe's free hand, guiding her towards the stairs to the second floor. They moved as quickly as Max dared until they reached the upper hallway balcony. Max pulled Chloe over towards the far wall and motioned with her other hand down towards where the guard stood. Chloe's eyes widened briefly; she nodded and crouched down.

Max led them slowly across the balcony, coming to a stop in front of what she'd dubbed The Creak Zone. She squeezed Chloe's hand and pointed at the floor in front of them before letting go to make an exaggerated step over the noisy area. She continued along and Chloe followed, easily stepping over The Creak Zone.

_I guess it helps when you're freakishly tall with hella long legs_ , Max thought with a wry smile.

She grabbed Chloe's hand again and led her to the stairs and down. Within a few moments they were outside the house, the door securely locked behind them.

They stood silently by the door, staring out at the quiet grounds.

_Wow_ , Max thought, _I can't believe that worked!_

She glanced over at Chloe and Chloe looked back. They both grinned and Max was about to offer a fist bump when she saw a flashlight beam sweeping the grounds off to their right.

"Oh no," Max said.

Chloe turned.

"Fuck!" she said quietly, stomping the ground.

"Wait," Max whispered, "maybe we can just stay here. We can wait for that guard to go by and then head down the path. He might not see us if we're right here by the door."

"Do we _have_ to stick to the path? Can we go around another way?" Chloe said.

"It's the only place where we know there aren't cameras," Max said, "and right now they still have no idea that someone's been here."

Chloe opened her mouth to respond but voices reached them from the other side of the door behind them. They both froze.

"...no, the instructions were clear, Rob, once the house is clear, we all go out into the grounds to keep an eye out. Except one of us, who stays at _this_ door...and it's going to be you," came Jim's voice.

"Only if I get to stay inside; the wet air is bad for my asthma," Grumpy Rob said, "and where did Carl go?"

"He went out the front door," Jim said, "and you don't have asthma...but what the hell, fine...just stay right inside the door."

Chloe was looking over at Max with panicked eyes. Max thought rapidly, looking around. There wasn't anywhere to hide here. No bushes or tables or AC units or anything. She glanced out onto the grounds and at the few trees and bushes along the path.

_Maybe…_ , Max thought.

"Make sure you push the right button," Rob said.

"I ain't going to make the same mistake you did," Jim said.

The door clicked behind them and Max rewound, stopping just after they'd come outside.

Everything was silent and Chloe had just started to zone out next to her. She immediately grabbed Chloe's hand.

"Come on," she whispered, "to the tree over there by the path."

"What?" Chloe said, dragging behind Max before starting to run along with her.

They reached the tree just as the glow of a flashlight appeared around the side of the building.

"Here," Max said, flattening herself up against the tree. Chloe stood beside her, their arms pressed together.

The flashlight beam came closer. Then they heard the house door open and another flashlight came to life. Max's mind whirled as she watched the beams dance around the grounds.

_What now?_ Max thought. She hazarded a glance around the tree and saw Jim and the other guard approaching one another. Max was about to grab Chloe to make a run for it but she realized that Jim would have a clear view of them. Max glanced over towards the fence: the gate, their exit to freedom, seemed so far away. And there was only one more tree near the path between them and the gate.

Max turned and watched the other guard ( _Let's call him Not-Carl_ , Max thought) carefully. The beginnings of a plan formed in her head. She watched where he looked and where his flashlight pointed. She watched and watched until Chloe tapped her on the shoulder, drawing her attention to yet another flashlight beam coming around the other side of the house.

_And that would be Carl_ , Max thought, _great...just great._

Max rewound to when Jim exited the house. She scooted over to Chloe and peered around her. Max felt that she was probably seriously invading Chloe's personal space but Chloe didn't say anything. This time Max's focus was entirely on Jim, watching where he looked and where his flashlight pointed. She continued watching until Carl's flashlight appeared.

Max rewound twice more, repeating her careful examinations of both Not-Carl and Jim. She rewound again and thought carefully about what she'd seen while trying to ignore the building ache in her head. It was a bit like predicting things in the diner for Chloe...and if she was right with what she'd seen, there were four times where both Not-Carl and Jim were looking completely away from the path.

As the flashlights began dancing around again, Max made her decision. She rewound to when Chloe and her first arrived at the tree. She reached over and grabbed Chloe's hand.

"Follow me when I run," Max whispered.

Chloe nodded, her eyes wide.

_Chloe must be_ really _freaked out_ , Max thought, _I don't think I've ever heard her this quiet._

Max squeezed Chloe's hand to reassure her and leaned around the side of the tree, waiting for the first moment.

_There_ , she thought as Not-Carl flicked his flashlight up to the roof.

She pulled Chloe and they began running along the grass by the gravel path. They had just made it past a large bush when a shout went out and they were illuminated by flashlights.

Chloe swore loudly and Max immediately turned around, letting go of Chloe and running back to the first tree. She arrived, caught her breath for a few moments as the steps of the guards thundered closer, and then rewound.

She stopped and grabbed Chloe's hand, saying, "follow me when I run; we're going to duck behind that bush."

When the flashlight flicked to the roof again, she pulled Chloe into a run. This time they dove to the ground beside the bush and lay still. There was no shout; no flashlight beams came their way.

Max poked her head up and watched again. Chloe was on the ground, her hand gripping Max's tightly.  
Max waited for the second sign that she'd memorized.

_There_ , Max thought as she heard Jim laugh at something.

Max stood and Chloe hopped up with her. They ran the rest of the distance to the second tree and stood behind it, breathing heavily.

_Shit_ , Max thought, _I really need to exercise. PE alone isn't quite cutting it._

She peered around the tree and waited for the third sign.

_If only Chloe could rewind time with me_ , Max thought, _this would be a lot simpler._

Then she saw the third sign: both flashlights pointed to the ground at a spot on the wall of the house. Max pulled Chloe and they ran for the wall. Max's feet pounded against the grass and she only slowed when the reached the metal bars. Her hand darted out to the keypad but a pair of shouts echoed from behind them.

"No!" Max said.

"Fuck!" Chloe shouted.

"Fuck shit damn hell," Max said.

She jogged back towards the tree, Chloe following. The guards slowed down, probably confused by the fact that the two young women that they were pursuing were now rushing in their direction.

Max and Chloe reached the tree and Max again tried to catch her breath. The guards were getting closer but there were still a few moments before they could reach the tree.

"Max," Chloe said, also breathing heavily, "maybe...it's time to use the photo."

"We've got...one more chance," Max said.

"Shit, this is _crazy_ ," Chloe said, clutching her hair.

The guards were nearly at the tree. Max straightened up and rewound.

The grounds were again quiet and Chloe was pressed up against the tree next to Max. Breathing out a sigh, Max turned to peek out and watch the guards. She soon saw the third sign but did nothing.

She waited for the last one.

_There_ , Max thought, immediately grabbing Chloe's hand and running. Both Not-Carl and Jim had pointed their flashlights towards a tree closer to the house. Something had caught their attention and they were moving towards it.

Max ran faster than she ever had before and Chloe pounded along behind her. They reached the gate and Max punched in the code. The gate clicked and Chloe immediately pulled it open. They ran through and Max closed it gently behind them. They both ducked behind a tree just outside of the wall.

_Oh my god_ , Max thought, breathing heavily and clutching her side, _did we make it? Please say we made it._

There were no shouts.

No flashlights pointed in their direction.

A few moments later, the third flashlight appeared around the far side of the house...they'd made it.

"Come on," Max said to Chloe, "we should get as far away as we can."

They crept away from the fence, sticking to the cover of the trees. When they could no longer see the Prescott grounds or the flashlights of the guards, they broke into a jog through the woods all the way to Chloe's truck.

They hopped in, still breathing heavily, and Chloe carefully swung the truck around. She pulled out onto the road and they sped back towards town, sitting silently dazed through the drive.

**. . . . .**

They parked in front of Chloe's house and said nothing as they snuck back into the house and up the stairs. Max's stupor persisted as she shuffled into Chloe's room...she couldn't quite snap out of it. Chloe wandered out of the bedroom and towards the bathroom, looking about as cohesive as Max felt. The bathroom door clicked shut and the faint sound of running water reached Max's ears.

Max walked over to the corner, put her bag down, and undressed, hanging her still-damp underclothes up and mindlessly grabbing a pair of underwear from Chloe's drawer, barely registering the eclectic collection of patterns there.

She put on pajamas and stood staring at Chloe's flag curtain, her mind stuck in neutral.

Max heard the bathroom door open and she moved mindlessly into the hall, passing Chloe and entering the bathroom to brush her teeth, using Chloe's brush without thinking. When she returned to the bedroom, Chloe was sitting at her desk chair in pajamas, staring blankly at the wall. Max closed the bedroom door and stepped over to the middle of the room, standing and staring over at Chloe.

_Wowser_ , Max thought, her head finally starting to clear, _that was...fucking...insane._

She looked down at herself.

_Funny_ , she thought, _the things you do on autopilot...I managed to not put my shirt or shorts on backwards._

A half smile touched her face and she looked over at Chloe.

Chloe had a slightly confused look, her mouth open and her brow furrowed. Slowly, a smile began spreading on her face and her eyes sparkled. She turned towards Max.

"Max?" Chloe said.

"Yeah?" Max answered, slightly hoarse.

"We...fuckin'...we just...broke into Sean Prescott's house!" Chloe said.

"Yeah," Max said, her smile growing, "yeah, we did."

"And we…," Chloe's eyes went wide and she dove over to her coat, rummaging in the inside pocket and pulling out a trio of envelopes. She rifled through the stacks of cash and turned back to Max, beaming, "...we pulled off a _heist_."

"I totally forgot about that!" Max said.

Chloe was practically bouncing. She threw the envelopes onto her desk and rushed over to Max, grabbing her arms.

"Max," she said, "we broke into the house of the richest douchebags in Arcadia Bay, broke into a fucking bunker, hung out like it was no thing, and then broke _out!_ "

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Max said, grasping Chloe's arms back, "but that...was actually fun."

"Of course it was fun!" Chloe said.

"Well, other than all of the terrifying near-misses," Max said.

"Dude," Chloe said, "you rocked that. That was all you. Max the Time Warrior. Those losers never stood a chance. You were fucking _amazing!_ "

"All _me?_ You wouldn't say that if you remembered rocking that crowbar," Max said, "you just busted that door wide open. Boom; one push and you breached Fort Prescott."

"Yeah, well I'm still tripping over how you figured out how to get past all of the guards in the house...both in and out!" Chloe said.

" _You_ found Nathan's apartment...and multiple piles of cash...and a hot tub!" Max said, smiling widely.

"Speaking of, you should take off your clothes more often, Saxy Maxy," Chloe said with a wink.

"Oh my god," Max said, blushing furiously.

Chloe laughed and said, "you're so cute. Also, badass. Seriously badass. I'll never forget you dragging my ass out of there, knowing exactly where to step and which fucking _tree_ to run to. Talk about superhero shit."

"Superhero shit?" Max said, "what about you dragging _my_ ass out of Sean Prescott's creepy horror library before I totally freaked out? I don't know what I'd do without you, Chloe. _You're_ an everyday superhero."

Max smiled up at Chloe and Chloe stared back, her eyes intense.

_Huh, I wonder what…_ , Max started thinking.

Chloe tightened her grip on Max's arms and leaned down, pressing her lips onto Max's.

Max's eyes widened and she tensed in surprise. Her ability to assemble a coherent thought seemed to evaporate...so Max simply did what felt right: she melted into the kiss, her eyes fluttering shut.

Suddenly Chloe broke away and stepped back. Max's eyes flew open, her head buzzing with excitement. Chloe, however, looked embarrassed.

"Shit, I'm so sorry, Max," she said, "I didn't think...I saw that you weren't ready earlier...I…"

Without a second thought, Max stepped forward, stood on her tiptoes, put her hands on Chloe's cheeks, and kissed her. Chloe stiffened momentarily...but in the next moment, her arms were wrapped tightly around Max and she moaned softly, hungrily welcoming Max's kiss.

Max had never experienced anything like it. The dare kiss? That had been a momentary thrill; a challenge accepted. And the kiss that her and Chloe had shared by the lighthouse...with the storm roaring in the bay below? That had been a last, desperate farewell; an ending. But this? Max's heart pounded and soared; her whole body tingled. And as she felt Chloe's lips move against hers and as she wrapped her arms around Chloe's neck, pulling them even closer together, she knew that this was promising something entirely new.

Chloe gently broke away and Max fell back onto her heels, smiling sheepishly. She opened her mouth to say something but Chloe lifted a hand and gently tilted Max's chin up, leaning over and kissing her softly. Max put her arms around Chloe's waist and held her close.

Soon they were shuffling sideways towards the bed and toppled down onto the jumbled sheets. Max laughed loudly as she hit the bed; Chloe looked at her with the kind of bright smile that Max hadn't seen since they were kids. Chloe scooted over to Max and their lips met again. Max pressed her entire body to Chloe's, soaking in the warmth of the embrace.

Chloe pulled back and said, "Holy shit, Max..."

She kissed Max again and continued, "...I can't even…"

Another kiss.

"...I've wanted this for days…," Chloe said.

Max kissed her this time.

"...for years…," Chloe said.

"Oh really?" Max said, "I couldn't tell."

Chloe playfully punched Max in the arm and then pulled her closer again and pressed her lips onto Max's, hard.

She released and stared into Max's eyes, saying, "don't even. I didn't even know if you were interested."

Max smiled and kissed Chloe softly before saying, "is that what the dare was for?"

"That obvious?" Chloe said with a tiny smile.

"Not at first," Max said, running a hand gingerly through Chloe's hair, "never underestimate Max Caulfield's romantic obliviousness."

Chloe chuckled briefly but then a shadow seemed to fall over her face.

"So...is this...real?" she said, a hint of pleading in her voice. Max knew where that question came from: the Chloe that had been abandoned; the Chloe that had been so empty and alone for so long. Max's heart ached at the pain in that question and at the cautious hope in Chloe's eyes.

_I love you_ , Max thought. Then she smiled.

"Hella yes it's real," Max said, pulling Chloe in and kissing her passionately.

_She's not the only one who's wanted to do this_ , Max thought, _I had no idea...this is so perfect; so amazing._

She leaned away and Chloe started laughing and crying at the same time.

"Fuck," she said, "only you could do this to me, Max."

"Do what?" Max said, kissing Chloe's forehead.

"Oh, come here," Chloe said, pulling Max into another wild embrace.

Chloe held Max tightly as they kissed and slid a leg over Max's. Max felt her heart skip at the sensation of Chloe's skin against hers. She'd always thought that kissing would just be...kissing. She had no idea how much of a full body experience it would be, every moment bringing some new surprise. She found herself totally tripping on the fact that she was sharing this with her best friend...and she was loving every second of it.

Chloe's hands raked through Max's hair and a moan escaped from Max's throat.

Chloe broke away and said, "I heard that."

Max blushed and said, "you heard nothing."

"Bet I can make that happen again," Chloe said.

Before Max could respond, their lips were together again and Chloe's hands were in Max's hair, her nails slowly and gently scratching along above Max's ears. Max couldn't help another small moan escaping.

Chloe leaned back, laughing. "Ha!" she said.

"Oh, that's it," Max said, reaching down and tickling Chloe's sides.

Chloe immediately laughed uproariously, trying to push Max's hands away. She rolled over onto her back and Max seized the opportunity, rolling over on top of Chloe and pinning her in place.

"Whoa, Max," Chloe said with a grin, "I like your style."

Her smile faltered.

"Hey," she continued, "you wouldn't happen to be rewinding to find the best ways to get me, are you?"

"No," Max said, her face serious, "no rewinding, not with this. Anything like this, we do together."

She held Chloe's hands and Chloe's smile returned. Max leaned over and planted a feather-light kiss on Chloe's lips.

"Oh no you don't," Chloe said, reaching up and pulling Max down.

Max's laugh was cut off by their lips meeting again.

Max managed to keep her perch above Chloe for only a short time before Chloe rolled them over to take the top, pinning Max and kissing up and down both sides of her neck.

Max wished she could take a photo that would encompass this experience: the excitement, the laughter, the love, the motions, every feeling in each little moment.

_I guess there are some things that can't fully be captured in a photo_ , Max thought, staring up and taking in Chloe's wide grin, her sparkling eyes, her messy blue hair. _But that's okay...I'll capture a moment someday that shows some little facet of this. Besides, I'm having way too much fun to pull out my camera._

Max smiled mischievously and twisted to the side, toppling Chloe from her perch above. Max delighted in Chloe's surprised expression, which turned quickly into one of delight as Max rolled on top and kissed Chloe's nose.

"Max," Chloe said, "you are amazing. In, like, every way."

"Why thank you," Max said, fluttering her eyelashes.

Chloe punched Max's shoulder.

Max laughed and said, "You too, Chloe, seriously...amazing in every way."

They continued to roll back and forth in the bed into the early hours of the morning, laughing and giggling, their legs and arms tangled together and their lips never apart for long.

**. . . . .**

Max's dreams that night were of the kind that she would _never_ write in her diary...she figured she would die of embarrassment if anyone knew...except maybe Chloe...eventually. But in the privacy of her own mind, she enjoyed them immensely...until a bright light broke in and Max suddenly felt awake.

She glanced around as a now-uncomfortably familiar scene came into focus...and in sharper focus than ever before. Max could clearly see the people this time: Dana to her left, Warren ahead, then Kate, then Principal Wells, then…

Max's heart sunk. David and Joyce led the group.

Max walked slowly along with the black-clad crowd into the cemetery. She could hear murmurs around her; she hadn't been able to hear much before in this dream...vision...whatever it was. She glanced up and was surprised to see that the sky was white, not blue. She looked into the distance and while she could see trees surrounding the cemetery, everything beyond seemed shrouded in a white fog.

_It's like the times when I've gone back through photos_ , Max thought, _but I definitely don't have a photo of_ this. _Whatever the hell this is, at least it isn't in the future._

The casket came into view ahead.

_Is_ that _why I keep seeing this?_ Max thought, _to push me to go back? Is this what happens...happened...if I don't get those bullets out of Nathan's gun? I just don't get it. I've never had a_ past _vision before. All of my experiences...well...all seven-ish days of it...tell me that this shouldn't be happening._

She continued forward, passing several members of the crowd. David helped Joyce along the path ahead.

_It's like when William died. Poor Joyce. I can't let her go through this._

Joyce and David stopped in front of the casket and Kate, walking past, laid a hand on Joyce's arm before moving to stand past David. Warren stopped and Max stepped around to stand between him and Joyce.

A man stepped forward, a pastor, and he began to speak. Max didn't pay attention to his words. In fact they seemed faint, distant.

She stared at the casket. _Oh Chloe_ , she thought, _this was the choice I originally made. This was what I expected when I came back. And yet somehow everything turned out right...and I'm going to make sure it_ stays _that way. There's no way that I could accept this...certainly not now._

The sounds around her faded away. She could see Joyce sobbing next to her but couldn't hear her. A blue butterfly glided down towards the casket, its wings flapping languidly. She wasn't sure what made her do it but Max held out her hand. The butterfly flew over and landed on her outstretched palm.

White light crept in from the corners of Max's vision, tinged this time with streaks of red. The scene disappeared.


	13. Waking Up Late

Max's eyes snapped open.

Sunlight filled Chloe's room and birds chirped merrily outside.

Max propped herself up and looked to her left, where Chloe still slept peacefully beside her. Max smiled; Chloe's face was a picture of calm, her mouth slightly open and her blue hair tousled.

Memories of the previous night came flooding back and Max fell back down onto her pillow, a grin on her face. She remembered kissing and kissing and kissing and then nothing until the damn funeral dream. Despite the images of the funeral attempting to gnaw at her attention, Max pushed it aside and focused on her time with Chloe, recalling every feeling and sensation.

_I don't believe it_ , Max thought, _I totally made out with my best friend._

She glanced over at Chloe again.

_I really love that girl_ , she thought.

She rolled over and grabbed her phone; it was nearly one in the afternoon.

_Wowser_ , Max thought, _we must have been up super late. I definitely won't make it to class on time. Of course, last night was totally worth a missed class...it was worth a thousand missed classes._

Chloe yawned loudly and stretched her arms out; Max had to duck to avoid getting a fist to her face.  
Chloe opened her eyes and propped herself up, facing Max with a lopsided smile.

Max grinned back.

Suddenly Chloe's brow furrowed and then her eyes went wide.

_Ah_ , Max thought, _there come last night's memories._

"Max?" Chloe said, "last night...did we...um...did we make out?"

As a response, Max leaned over and kissed Chloe softly on the lips.

"OH YES!" Chloe shouted, sitting up, "it wasn't a dream!"

She fell over onto Max, kissing her neck.

Max laughed and kicked her legs, saying, "stop it! That tickles!"

Chloe withdrew with a chuckle and fell back to the bed, staring at Max. Max rolled onto her side, scooted closer to Chloe, and reached over to run her hand through Chloe's messy hair and then trace her fingers along Chloe's ear.

Chloe closed her eyes and said, "shit, Max, I am so totally tripping on this."

"Me too. Last night was just...incredible," Max said.

Max moved her hand to Chloe's waist and Chloe opened her eyes.

"Do you...um...do you want to...keep doing that?" Chloe asked cautiously.

"Of course!" Max said with a grin.

"And you... _like_ me in, you know, that way?" Chloe said.

"Yes," Max said, staring into Chloe's eyes.

"Wow," Chloe said, running a hand through Max's hair.

"The correct pronunciation is 'wow _ser_ '," Max said, earning her a playful punch.

"Er…," Max continued, "this might be a silly question but...do you like me in that way too?"

"Max, I _hella_ like you that way," Chloe said.

She leaned over and kissed Max softly, holding a gentle hand to the side of Max's head.

When Chloe pulled away, Max paused for a moment before scratching her head and saying, "does this mean that we're...um...dating?"

"I think?" Chloe said, sitting up and squinting, "I've never actually been in a relationship before. So...let's go with yes. Do you want to go with yes?"

"Yes!" Max said, sitting up, "and wait, I thought you'd, you know, been with people before."

Max felt a little embarrassed saying it and, if she was honest, a little jealous.

"Random sex and make-outs don't count," Chloe said. She paused and then her eyes went wide, "I mean...shit, I'm sorry...that came out wrong. _You_ probably think that those count. I meant to say that those weren't the same as...it's…those weren't _real_ , you know...not... _fuck_ , this must sound awful to you."

Max put a hand on Chloe's knee.

"Chloe," Max said with what she hoped was a reassuring smile, "I get it, really; don't worry. I just...I'm completely new to this and I wasn't sure whether you'd...experienced something like _this_ before."

"No, _nothing_ like this, ever," Chloe said, relaxing, "I guess what I was trying to say is that this hella counts. Big time."

Max pulled a knee up and hugged it, staring at Chloe with a grin.

"Big time hella counts is sure how it feels for me...and how it felt last night," Max said, "er...speaking of which...how did last night end? I just remember making out and making out and then nothing." She didn't mention the dream.

_Later_ , Max thought.

"Only the most adorable thing ever," Chloe said, "we were seriously going to town. You, by the way, are a crazy good kisser. Seriously, amazeballs. Anyways, you were all over me and suddenly you just fell asleep."

"I fell asleep?" Max said, horrified.

"Yeah, just boom, asleep," Chloe said, "like I said, adorable. I pulled the covers over you, kissed you on the forehead." Chloe leaned over and kissed Max on the forehead, "and then watched you like a creepster until I fell asleep."

"Now who's adorable?" Max said.

Chloe laughed. She looked around the room.

"Dude, what time is it?" she asked.

"Almost one," Max said, pulling her camera out and taking her daily emergency shot; this time of Chloe looking incredulous.

"Shit!" Chloe said, "don't you have class?"

"None in the morning today," Max said, "and I think I can probably skip my first afternoon one...I don't think I'll be able to do science very well on an empty stomach anyways."

"Don't skip too many classes," Chloe said, shaking a finger at Max, "especially not for me."

"Says Chloe the Blackwell Outlaw," Max said, sticking her tongue out.

"I mean it," Chloe said.

"Wow, what have I done to you?" Max said, "in all seriousness though, I promise I won't make a habit out of it. It's not every day that you break into a mansion with your best friend and then end the night by becoming her girlfriend. Besides, Ms. Grant really likes me and I finished all of my homework. I'll ask if I can do the lab later and I'm sure she'll help a Max out."

"Girlfriend? Hmm, I do like the sound of that," Chloe said, "Chloe Price, Max girlfriend. Ha! Get it? Maximum Girlfriend!"

Max made an exaggerated eye roll and Chloe used the opportunity to swoop in for a kiss before standing up.

"Dude, I'm fucking starving," Chloe said, "Two Whales?"

"Yes, please," Max said, her stomach grumbling.

Max rolled out of bed and went to retrieve her clothes.

"Oh, by the way," Chloe said, a silly grin on her face, "since we're dating now, there's a little-known rule you should know about. Very serious. The rule is: if I'm undressing in front of you, you can't turn away anymore. You have to watch; totally a requirement. Not even allowed to blink, actually. Oregon state law."

Max crossed her arms said, "oh really? I had no idea, none at all. I'm glad you're here to tell me about these things. Okay then, I guess the law is the law."

Chloe's eyes widened briefly but then narrowed.

"Calling your bluff, Saxy Maxy," she said, reaching down and looping her thumbs into the waistbands of her shorts and underwear. She began to tug downwards with a sly smile on her face and Max immediately spun around.

"Gah! Not ready for that," Max said, her face red.

Chloe laughed loudly and said, "I knew it! You seriously can't expect to win a game of chicken like that against _me_...I'm totally shameless with you. Oh, and you can turn around. I promise I still have my clothes on."

Max turned to find Chloe grinning at her, hands on her (clothed) hips.

Max sighed and said, "you're right, I'll stick to tickling as my biggest advantage. Just remember that I always have _that_ up my sleeve." She gave Chloe an impish smile.

Chloe stepped forward and draped her arms over Max's shoulders.

"Oh, I'll keep that in mind," Chloe said, "And by the way, I do love messing with you, but if my jokes and innuendos get annoying or get to be too much, go ahead and smack me. We'll take everything at your pace. Promise."

"Thanks, Chloe," Max said, chuckling, "and no, while your jokes do catch me off guard sometimes, it's part of what makes you such an adorable dork. I'll take the full package, please."

"Oh, you'll get _that_ alright," Chloe said. She pulled Max close and kissed her before stepping away and ducking out of the room.

_Power over time and I'm still going to keep walking right into those_ , Max said, shaking her head.

She pulled off her pajamas and went to change back into her clothes from the previous night. However, she spent several long seconds staring at her underwear, confused, before she remembered that the snowmen-emblazoned garment had come out of Chloe's drawer the night before.

After dressing, Max pulled out her journal and scribbled down the previous night's events, pages that she would treasure forever.

Max took her turn in the bathroom after Chloe finished and they were soon ready to go. They made it as far as halfway down the stairs before Chloe grabbed Max by the waist and pulled her into a kiss. The passionate make-out session that followed had Max very glad that neither Joyce nor David was home. Only the hungry and clearly audible grumblings of their stomachs made Max and Chloe pull apart and finally leave the house for the Two Whales.

**. . . . .**

They parked near Frank's RV and Chloe entered the diner while Max stayed back to take a photo of the Two Whales' sign. Every so often, Max remembered that many of her favorite shots from the week before no longer existed. Some, she was sure, were lost forever. But others, like this one, could be recaptured.

Max entered the Two Whales after placing the new photo in her bag. She was about to turn towards the far end of the diner when a voice near the door froze her in her tracks. Max scooted to the side, pretending to look at the flyers taped up next to the door.

"...crazy night," said the voice, "only got up about an hour ago."

It was Not-Carl, Max realized, sitting with another man in the booth next to the door.

"What the hell happened?" said the other man, "I thought you had a sweet gig?"

"Normally, yeah," said Not-Carl, "but…," his voice dropped and Max leaned in, "old Prescott is a paranoid sum-bitch. He called up past midnight and had Carl and I do a 'full-sweep' of the house here in town before sending us up to the big place in the woods."

"The fuck is a 'full-sweep'?" the other man asked.

"No clue," Not-Carl said, "me and Carl just walked around real careful and checked every room. Apparently the guys up at the other place had to do the same."

"Anything happen?" the other man said.

"Nope, nothin' at all," Not-Carl said and Max released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, "a bit spooky though, that place in the woods. Kept on hearing creaks and moans all over. And damn, the sound of ticking clocks is _everywhere_. Then me and Jim, he's one of the guys who works up there, we got real spooked by a deer while we was outside."

The other man chuckled, "got spooked by a _deer?_ "

"You laugh now...but you'd jump too if you thought there was nothin' around and suddenly you see this deer lookin' right at you from under a tree. Appeared out of nowhere, man," Not-Carl said.

"Maybe you should get a daylight job," the other man said.

"When I find one that pays as good as this job, I'll think about it," Not-Carl said.

Max turned and walked away towards Chloe, who gave her a quizzical look from their typical booth.

Max sat down and Chloe said, "I didn't know the Two Whales flyer collection was so interesting."

"It's not," Max said, "but one of our friends from last night is sitting over there."

"Holy shit really?" Chloe said, her eyes widening, "what did he say?"

"Well, apparently Mr. Prescott had them search _both_ houses thoroughly," Max said, "the guard thinks the whole thing was paranoia on Mr. Prescott's part."

"Weird," Chloe said, "anything else?"

"Yeah," Max said, leaning in, "he said they got spooked by a deer that seemed to appear out of nowhere."

Chloe was silent for a moment then said, "you don't think...Rachel?"

"That was my first thought," Max said, "if so, she helped us get away."

"Damn, way to go Rachel," Chloe said, glancing upward. She kissed her fingertips and held them up.

_Yeah, Rachel, if that was you, we owe you one_ , Max thought, _it would mean you really_ are _watching out for us._

"Did the guy say anything about us?" Chloe said.

"Oh yeah, he said he saw two girls making out in a bedroom at 44 Cedar…," Max started before Chloe playfully kicked her under the table.

"Ow," Max said, rubbing her shin.

"That didn't hurt," Chloe said.

"Did too," Max said.

"Then I'll just have to make it better," Chloe said, rubbing her foot against Max's leg.

Max blushed.

"So…?" Chloe said, "anything about our little adventure up at Chateau Prescott? For real?"

Max, more than a little distracted by Chloe now playing full-on footsie, managed, "um...right...he said...what did he say?...oh right, nothing out of the ordinary...we got away with it completely."

Chloe pounded the table in delight, laughing and drawing stares from a few of the customers at the counter. Max grinned.

"What's all the commotion out...ah, should've known," came Joyce's voice.

She walked over with a pot of coffee and filled Max and Chloe's cups.

"I see you finally rolled out of bed," Joyce said to Chloe before turning to Max, "and you stayed the night?"

"Yeah," Max said, trying very hard to both keep a straight face and not blush. Chloe's booted foot rubbing against her shoe was _not_ helping.

"Well you're welcome any time, of course," Joyce said with a big smile, "I love having you around and I haven't seen Chloe this happy in years."

Chloe grinned.

"...or go this long without getting into serious trouble," Joyce continued.

Chloe snorted.

"I don't know if she's told you," Joyce said to Max, "but you really mean a lot to her. I can't tell you how good it is to see you back together again."

Chloe's grin had returned and Max was failing at preventing a blush. She gave a small smile. Joyce's head tilted a bit and she looked back and forth between the two girls.

_Uh-oh_ , Max thought.

Joyce's eyes sparkled and a knowing smile touched her lips. She nodded slightly and then put her hands on her hips.

"So," she said, "what'll you be having? I know you both seem to prefer breakfast. If you want something off of that menu, I'm sure we can whip something up for you."

_Smooth move, Joyce_ , Max thought.

"I'm good with lunch," Max said, trying to act as normally as possible, "I haven't had a Two Whales burger in so long!"

"Dude," Chloe said, "you had a bite of one yesterday. Where'd you think I got it?"

"Oh," Max said, "...I guess that makes sense. No wonder it was so hella good."

Joyce laughed out loud at that.

Max asked for the burger and Chloe ordered one too.

Joyce took their order back and Max leaned forward.

"I think she knows," Max said.

"Yeah," Chloe said, "I figured she'd notice. That woman has one fuckin' hell of a sixth sense. Of course, she won't say anything _direct_ until we actually tell her. Until then, she'll just laugh at us and make insinuating comments."

"The apple doesn't fall far," Max said, earning another kick under the table.

Max grinned but the thought of Joyce laughing at them brought an entirely different image to Max's mind: one of Joyce sobbing uncontrollably in front of Chloe's casket. Max's smile faded into a frown.

"You okay?" Chloe said.

"Yeah, kind of," Max said, "there's...something I haven't brought up before."

"Uh oh...lay it on me, Max," Chloe said.

"I've been having a...vision...I think, at night," Max said.

"Wait, like the storm?" Chloe said, her eyes widening, "is there another storm coming?"

"No, it's a vision of something from days ago that didn't happen," Max said, looking straight at Chloe, "a funeral."

"Oh?...oh...," Chloe said, sitting back, "and I'm guessing that I was the...guest of honor at said funeral?"

When Max nodded, Chloe continued, "is that why you've been so...gung-ho? Why you've been so insistent on being prepared to do something?"

"Yeah," Max said, "although I still don't understand it. This vision is so strange...the first time I had it, it was completely out of focus. That's one reason I didn't even mention it before: I wasn't entirely sure what it was at first and thought it might be some kind of fluke...and also because I didn't want to worry you. But then each time I've seen it since, it's become more clear. At the same time though, there's a...boundary to it, like when I've travelled back through photos."

"Huh...that _is_ strange. It doesn't sound anything like how you described your crazy storm visions," Chloe said, her brow furrowed, "and it's a vision of the _past?_ You're sure it's in the past, right?"

"Yes," Max said, "I saw the date on my phone the second time I had the vision."

"Ha, clever," Chloe said. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and said, "um...maybe this is kind of morbid but...what was it like?"

"Well, everyone just sort of walked into the cemetery and there was a guy who said some words and...honestly I wasn't paying that much attention to most of the details...I was more trying to figure out what it was at first and then just thinking about how to make sure it would never happen," Max said.

"And by 'everyone' you mean, what? Like five people?" Chloe said with a snort.

"No, Chloe," Max said, "there were a _lot_ of people there. So many...it was a huge crowd."

"I...really?" Chloe said, "I...kind of believed Nathan when he said no one would care."

"More proof that he's full of shit," Max said, "and proof of just how much people _do_ care about you."

Max reached across the table and put a hand on Chloe's.

A half smile lit Chloe's face and tears welled in her eyes.

"Shit...dammit," she said, wiping her eyes, "okay okay, back to punk mode. Whew."

"Chloe, I love you," Max said.

Max immediately withdrew her hand and her eyes widened in panic.

_Oh shit, I can't believe I just said that out loud_ , Max thought, looking at Chloe's surprised face, _it completely spilled out! What do I do? That must have been too soon; way too soon. Shit, do I rewind?_

"I know what you're thinking, Max Caulfield," Chloe said, pointing at her, a smile growing on her face, "don't you dare do it."

At that moment, Joyce arrived with their food.

"Here you go, Max," she said, placing a plate with a towering burger and a pile of fries in front of Max.

"And you too, Chloe," Joyce said.

"Enjoy," Joyce continued. She paused, looking between Max's horrified face and Chloe's increasingly delight-filled expression and chuckled, "looks like you two have something to talk about."

Joyce walked away and Max wanted to sink under the table.

"Max," Chloe said, leaning forward and nearly knocking her burger over, "did you mean that?"

Max sat completely still for a moment. Then she nodded, an involuntary smile appearing on her face.

"Wowser," Chloe said quietly.

Chloe looked dazed, a small but incredibly bright smile etched onto her face. Max started to lean forward to ask Chloe if she was alright when Chloe suddenly jumped up, standing on her seat and jutting her arms up into the air.

"YES!" she shouted, drawing the attention of the entire diner.

She spun around and then dropped back down to the seat, grinning over at Max.

Joyce walked over and said, "Chloe, I'm loving how happy you are, but _please_ don't shout in here. If you've got to yell something, take it outside."

Chloe leaned over and hugged Joyce around the waist, saying, "sorry mom, I'll tone it down next time."

Joyce looked over at Max, shocked.

"Whatever you're doing," she said, "keep doing it."

Max nodded, her mouth slightly open, as Joyce patted Chloe on the head affectionately and stepped away.

"Max?" Chloe said.

"Yeah?" Max said.

Chloe let out a breath and said, "I love you too."

Max felt like she could fly; she sat up straight, her eyes bright and a huge smile on her face.

"I...really?" Max said.

"Yeah, I do. Really," Chloe said, "I'm not even sure when it happened. Maybe it was five years ago. Maybe it was five days ago. I've been...trying to figure out how to tell you."

"Oh right...I might have...I sort of accidentally saw something about that in your search history yesterday," Max said, cringing.

"What?" Chloe said, a blush creeping into her cheeks.

"I wasn't snooping, I swear," Max said, "it was when I was looking up how to, you know," she leaned forward and dropped her voice to a whisper, "how to break into a house. I typed 'how to' and, well...recent searches."

"Fuck you, Google," Chloe said, burying her head in her hands, "that is so embarrassing."

"I thought it was really sweet," Max said, "although I wasn't sure if it was about me. I wondered if it was months or even years old."

"Oh, it was _all_ about you," Chloe said, rising with a grin, "a couple of days ago, actually. _You_ didn't seem to have any problems saying it."

"Er, I really didn't plan that," Max said, "it sort of just spilled out."

"Ha! You are unbelievably cute," Chloe said, "so...um...when did you...when did it happen?"

"Oh," Max said, "I guess I sort of started realizing it during the week that never happened. I think it really hit me just before we...said goodbye…"

Chloe reached across the table and clutched Max's hand.

"...but I don't think I fully _realized_ it until I was in the hospital room with you on Friday," Max continued, "that was the first time I really understood what I was feeling...and it was awesome."

Max grinned and Chloe opened her mouth to respond but Joyce walked over, carrying a pair of tall milkshakes and straws.

"Here you go, girls, on the house," Joyce said with a smile, "seems like there's something to celebrate here."

"Thanks, Joyce!" Max said, eagerly tearing a straw out of its wrapper.

"Yeah, thanks, mom," Chloe said, tearing off one end of her straw wrapper and blowing into the straw, sending the rest of the wrapper shooting over at Max.

"Crap," Max said, holding her own crumpled-up wrapper, "I forgot about that."

Joyce laughed and said, "and you'd better start eating those burgers before they get cold."

Max felt her stomach rumble and gladly obliged, as did Chloe.

Several minutes later, with her burger obliterated, Max sipped up the last of her milkshake, making a gurgling sound with the straw. She sat back and stared across at Chloe, who had her feet up on Max's side of the booth and was smiling across the table.

"So, what now?" Max asked.

"Ha, that's a big question! Do you mean short term? Like today?" Chloe said, "or long term? Like, next few weeks? Because oh do I have ideas for long term."

Max playfully pushed Chloe's leg.

"Okay fine," Chloe said, "short term is I take you back up to Blackwell. I know you want more of this," she pointed at herself, "but you'll just have to get it after class."

"Ugh, okay," Max said, "but you'd better be there _right_ after class. 4:00."

"Yes, ma'am," Chloe said, saluting.

"Wait, what were you going to say before Joyce came over with the milkshakes?" Max said.

"Oh," Chloe said, "just going to tell you that you're adorable and amazing."

"All of this flattery is going to make me swoon," Max said.

"Oh, don't worry," Chloe said, "I'll catch you. Part of my job as bodyguard."

"Hmm, that reminds me: this whole dating thing does complicate our 'professional' relationships," Max said, "on the one hand, we have the bodyguard, you, dating the person she's sworn to protect. And on the other hand, I'm now dating my pirate Captain. I don't know about this…"

"Hey, this Captain is perfectly fine going below decks with her First Mate...you know, for the booty of course," Chloe said, "and I guess it's up to you whether or not Super Max is okay with...um...exploring the all of the nooks and crannies of the Batcave with her sidekick slash bodyguard."

"That's...wow, just wow," Max said, shaking her head.

Chloe grinned.

"But yes," Max continued, "Super Max is quite fine with...hmm...having her and her sidekick get in touch with their spidey senses together."

"Yes, _that's_ what I'm talking about! And ha...'quite fine'...hell yeah Super Max is quite fine," Chloe said with a wink. She continued, "I'm loving where this is all going, Max, but…" She pointed over at the clock on the wall.

Max sighed, smiled, and said, "okay, you're right, I guess we'd better go." She reached into her bag.

"Nope," Chloe said, a hand in her jacket, "today's lunch is being paid by our buddy Nathan."

She pulled out a wad of cash and picked out a $20 bill.

"I thought that was all in hundreds," Max said.

"Yeah, most of it was," Chloe said, "but there were some smaller bills. I know that Frank prefers not to break hundreds. Speaking of which, mind if we stop by Frank's RV?"

"Sure," Max said, "I keep hoping I can be friends with Pompidou."

"Ha," Chloe said, "good luck."

They waved to Joyce as they left and walked hand-in-hand over to Frank's RV. Chloe sauntered to the door and knocked loudly and rapidly.

"Who the fuck is it?" came Frank's voice from inside.

"It's Chloe!"

The RV door swung open and Frank stood there, a beer bottle dangling from his fingertips, his eyes dark and hollow. Pompidou skittered out and ran straight to Max. She knelt down and Pompidou licked her chin. Max laughed and scratched behind his ears.

Both Frank and Chloe watched, their mouths open in surprise.

"Ain't never seen Pompidou take to someone like that before," Frank said, "except maybe Rachel." He stared down.

"No kidding," Chloe said.

"You alright?" Frank said, "I heard you got shot by the Prescott kid."

"Dude," Chloe said, "takes more than a rich boy with an itchy trigger finger to take down Chloe Price."

Frank raised an eyebrow.

"Alright fine," Chloe said, "it was hella fucked up. I'm lucky," she glanced over at Max, "to be alive."

"Who is that?" Frank said, nodding towards Max, who was now rubbing Pompidou's belly, "Blackwell kid?"

"Yeah, she's Max Caulfield," Chloe said, grinning, "we were best friends growing up."

"Great great," Frank said, "so what do you want? Hope you don't want to borrow more money."

"No, actually," Chloe said, reaching into her coat, "I'm here to pay you back. Three grand."

Chloe pulled out a stack of bills and handed them over.

"Well shit, Chloe," Frank said, "ain't never thought you were going to pay that back. Kicked myself for agreeing to lend you that much in the first place."

"Well now you can kick yourself for thinking I'd bail on it," Chloe said.

Frank shook his head.

"How are you doing?" Chloe said.

"Rough," Frank said.

"Rachel?" Chloe said.

"Rachel," Frank said, looking down.

Chloe put a hand on Frank's shoulder and said, "dude, I know. I really do. I always hoped that she'd just run off. But I guess a part of me knew she wouldn't have left either of us behind without telling us."

"No, you don't understand," Frank said, "she...died from an overdose. From shit that _I_ sold to that Prescott prick. Hell, Rachel was here _with_ me when I put it together for him."

Max had stepped over and said, "Frank, you had no way of knowing. No way to know what Nathan would do. _No one_ knew what he and Mr. Jefferson were doing."

"I still shoulda known better," Frank said, "that twerp always creeped me out but I just kept selling him stuff. Driving out to...I don't know but I think I might've been right there, right near where they had Rachel…"

"Frank," Chloe said, holding his shoulders, "this entire town was fucking blindsided by this. None of us had any clue. Nathan drugged me too and I barely got away."

"What!?" Frank said, his eyes wide.

"You think I blame _you_ for that?" Chloe said, "that was Nathan, 100%."

"But...I sold it to him," Frank said, "I should have known."

"What about me?" Max said, "I took classes from Mr. Jefferson, talked to him one on one. I idolized him. Never once did I think that he was involved in this. I could've ended up like Kate Marsh or Rachel. I don't blame you either and you shouldn't blame yourself."

_Although if I'm honest with myself_ , Max thought, _I'm not a big fan of Frank's business...particularly given what some of his drugs have been used for. But that's definitely not what he needs to hear right now._

"Yeah Frank," Chloe said, "think about it. What would Rachel think? Do you think she'd want to see you moping around in your RV? Just drinking and crying?"

"I guess...no, no she wouldn't," Frank said.

"I know you miss her, Frank," Chloe said, "I miss her too. She was our friend. She was more than our friend. But you remember: she loved life. She wanted everyone around her to love life. And I don't think she'd want any of us to give up on that."

"Yeah, you're right," Frank said; he seemed to stand a little taller.

"Hey, you're not alone around here, okay?" Chloe said, "remember that. And we'll be back to check on you."

"I...thanks," Frank said.

Chloe stepped down and both her and Max bade Frank farewell. He stood in the entryway of his RV for a few moments before stepping out into the sunlight, squinting. He reached behind him and grabbed a fold-out chair, shuffling down to the pavement and setting it down.

"You think he'll be okay?" Max said as her and Chloe walked towards the truck.

"Yeah," Chloe said, "it'll take a while...but he'll be okay."

"That's good," Max said, "I..."

Suddenly Max felt pressure in her head and the world around her went white.

**. . . . .**

A scene formed around her.

The trees. The gravel path. The peaceful stillness broken only by the quiet movement of the group of black-clad mourners.

The funeral again.

_No_ , Max thought, _I can't be having this while I'm_ awake _...this can't be good; this can't be good at all._

She followed the group along as before, glancing worriedly from side to side. The scene around her was crystal clear but the whiteness at the edges had drawn closer; it was like a hazy dome around the cemetery.

And at the corners of her vision, Max could see streaks of red.

_It changes each time I see it_ , Max thought, _the content is the same but the focus...the boundaries...they keep changing. What does it_ mean?

She reached the casket and stood again between Warren and Joyce. She could hear Joyce's sobs and they tore at her heart. Only minutes before she'd heard Joyce laughing in joy at the sight of how happy her daughter had become.

_How could we have been so sure that Joyce would be better off like this?_ Max thought, _Chloe thought it was selfish to risk Joyce dying in the storm. But was it really? Was it really that selfish if the alternative was forcing Joyce to live through her daughter's death?_

The pastor had begun speaking and a blue butterfly descended, landing on the casket.

_Chloe, I can't let this happen_ , Max thought, _I can't._

The whiteness drew in from the sides of Max's vision, torn through with dark cuts of red. The scene was wiped away.

**. . . . .**

"Max?," Chloe's voice called out, "Max?!"

"I'm...I'm okay," Max said.

Her vision cleared. She was partially sprawled on the ground and Chloe was kneeling beside her, holding her.

"Max, what happened?" Chloe said, a panicked expression on her face, "one moment you were talking and the next...wait, are you...are you still Beta Max?"

Almost involuntarily, Max rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, it's me," Max said, sitting up fully, "I had the funeral vision again."

"I thought that only happened when you were asleep," Chloe said, her eyes widening in alarm.

"That's what I thought too," Max said, "but the tornado visions would hit me whenever they wanted to."

"You said these were different," Chloe said.

"They are; very different," Max said.

Chloe helped Max to her feet.

"Chloe," Max said, "I need to get back to my room and find the photos that I'd need to go back."  
Chloe nodded.

"The vision keeps changing," Max said, "it's been...becoming more and more white around the edges and I don't know what it means...I _have_ to be ready to do something."

**. . . . .**

They drove up to Blackwell in silence, Max clutching her elbow and Chloe nervously drumming her fingers on the steering wheel.

Chloe parked haphazardly over two spots in the lot and the pair ran towards Max's dorm. They turned the corner outside of the principal's house and Max ran right into Kate.

Kate's armful of notebooks flew into the air and scattered across the ground. Chloe grabbed both girls, preventing them from falling.

"Kate!" Max said as Chloe released them, "I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking at all."

"That's okay, Max," Kate said, steadying herself and putting a reassuring hand on Max's arm, "it happens."

She knelt down to gather the notebooks and Max did the same.

"That was a pretty epic crash," Chloe said, picking up a notebook at her feet.

"You're both in a big hurry," Kate said, standing up, "is everything okay?"

"Not really," Max said, surprising herself.

_It's kind of hard to lie to Kate_ , Max thought.

"There's something I think I have to do," Max continued, glancing at Chloe, "and I think it would be bad...very bad, if I don't get it right."

"Oh no," Kate said, "is there anything I can do to help?"

"I don't think so, Kate," Max said, "but I promise I'll let you know if there is."

Max handed the notebooks she'd picked up over to Kate and started towards the dorm again. Chloe put the last notebook on the top of Kate's stack.

"See you later, Kate," Chloe said.

"You too, Chloe," Kate said.

Kate walked towards the main building but stopped, turning around.

"Max!" Kate called out and Max turned, "whatever it is, I'm sure it will turn out alright. Have faith, especially in yourself."

"Thanks, Kate," Max said with a smile.

Kate waved and continued on while Max and Chloe rushed up into the dorms.

As soon as they stepped through Max's door, Max darted around the room, picking up the stacks of papers and photos scattered about.

"Chloe," Max said, "look at the photos on the wall. Grab anything that looks like it was taken from inside a Blackwell dorm hall or in my room."

"Gotcha," Chloe said, hopping onto Max's bed and scanning the pictures.

Max brought everything she'd gathered to her desk, searching through the piles and setting aside any photo that fit the criteria she'd just described to Chloe.

"Here's a couple from your hall," Chloe said, stepping down from the bed and handing Max a short stack, "none from the dude hall."

"Thanks," Max said, dumping photos out of an envelope, "could you check the drawers?"

"On it," Chloe said, opening Max's top drawer.

"Hey," Chloe said, holding up a picture of the two of them, "I didn't know you kept these old pictures."

"Yeah," Max said, managing a smile, "I kept all of the photos of us. That was my favorite so it's always come with me."

Chloe smiled and looked at the photo again before continuing her search of the drawer.

Max tore through what was left on her desk but still couldn't find the photos she was looking for.

"I _know_ that I took a couple of photos in the boys' hall almost right outside Nathan's door," she said, slamming her hands onto the desk, "where _are_ they?"

"Nada," Chloe said, coming over from the drawers.

"Here," Max said, gathering the photos she'd set aside, "help me look through these. They have to be here...somewhere."

They went through, photo by photo. Max excitedly grabbed one of Warren in the dorm entryway, but her face fell when she realized it was from her first week at Blackwell; too early.

"I don't get it," Max said, "I _know_ I took those photos."

"Is there anywhere else you could have put them?" Chloe asked.

Max shook her head and opened her mouth to respond but sudden pressure in her head made the world spin; everything went white.

**. . . . .**

The funeral appeared around her, frozen in time. Max looked to her left, where Joyce and David stood still, tears motionless on their cheeks. To her right, Warren stared mournfully at Chloe's casket. The butterfly was there too, but its wings flapped gently atop the casket. Whiteness and streaks of violent red enveloped Max's vision and it vanished.

**. . . . .**

Max's eyes snapped open. Chloe was in front of her, hands on Max's shoulders.

"Max, are you okay?" Chloe said.

"Vision again," Max said. She dropped out of Chloe's hands and grabbed the pile of photos.

"There must be a shot here from sometime between that Friday and Monday," Max said, "a photo of my room or the hall...something."

"Max, what are you doing?" Chloe said.

"I can go back," Max said, "It doesn't _have_ to be in front of Nathan's room. I can go back and do a...photo hop. Take a picture in the hall, go back to that one, take a photo in the stairwell, go back to that one. And so on until I get to Nathan's room. Oh, and I'll need to grab the key from Victoria's room; can't forget that."

"Max, wait," Chloe said.

"Ah, this one!" Max said, holding a photo up triumphantly, "I took this one on Sunday. I think all the Vortex Club kids were out that night."

"Max!" Chloe said.

Max turned, eyes wide, to Chloe.

"Max," Chloe said, "none of this makes sense. It doesn't fit anything you've told me. Not about your powers or about how any of this seems to work. Just slow down. I think we're missing something."

"But Chloe," Max said, "I may have to do this _now_. The vision has been getting...I don't know...more _near_."

"Just think," Chloe said, "what if you already did this."

"I already thought of that," Max said, "but it shouldn't be possible and even if it was, I would have…"  
She trailed off and thought of what Kate had said outside: _Have faith, especially in yourself._

_What if Chloe's right?_ Max thought, _what if I did already do it...what would I have done? What would I have been_ thinking _? I...wait..._

"What does this all revolve around?" Max said quietly.

"Huh?" Chloe said.

"Everything we've been trying to do, what's it all been related to?" Max said.

"Um, saving my ass?" Chloe said.

"Yeah," Max said, "but what does _that_ revolve around?"

"Um...Nathan's gun? Nathan's room?" Chloe said.

"Nathan," Max said, eyeing her couch.

Max walked over and pulled her couch away from the wall. There, in the same spot where Nathan hid his drug phone bag in _his_ room, was a small bag taped to the wall.

"Damn...," Chloe said, coming up behind Max.

Max nodded and grabbed the bag. It contained a folded piece of notebook paper and a small stack of photos. She took out the photos. As she suspected, they were the ones she'd been looking for. She pulled out the notebook paper and unfolded it. It was a letter, in Max's own handwriting.


	14. Future Tense

Max placed the bag with the photos on the couch and held the letter open. Chloe peered over Max's shoulder and they read:

**Hi Max,**

**If you're reading this, you've stumbled across something that's very hard to explain. But please trust me, because I'm you. DO NOT remove the photos from this bag. They're hidden away like this to make sure that some crazy shit doesn't go down. Put them back where they were and everything will be answered on Tuesday, October 15th at 2:00pm.  
The reason this is so important? Chloe. This is all about her. If she's alive and well, everything went to plan. If not, then it means that the plan isn't finished (in which case the photos NEED to be where you found them). Or it means that the plan failed. If I failed, I will find another way. I have to. Chloe means everything to me. I'll keep trying and I'll never give up.**

**Literally yours,  
Max**

Max felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

_It's done_ , she thought, _it's already done. She's safe._

She turned and wrapped Chloe in tight hug. Chloe returned the hug gently.

"Chloe, you're safe...you're going to be alright. I can't even tell you how much of a relief this is...you're safe," Max said, leaning into Chloe's shoulder.

"But...what about you?" Chloe said, her voice quiet.

Max pulled away and said, "what do you mean?"

"It's almost two, Max," Chloe said, "doesn't that mean that in about ten minutes, you're not going to remember anything about the last few days? About last night? About this morning?"

"I...yeah," Max said.

"And what does that mean for _you?_ " Chloe said, "what's going to happen to the you that I've been with since Friday?"

"I...don't know," Max said, "I guess I just...become part of the other me. Like you said, I won't remember the last few days...memory erased, like Men in Black."

"So you'll be gone," Chloe said.

"No, Chloe, it will still…," Max started.

"It's not fair!" Chloe said, fists clenched and tears building in her eyes, "we just...we only just...and now you're being taken away."

"Chloe, I'm so sorry," Max said, "I…"

"I don't blame _you_ , Max," Chloe said, "I guess...it's the other you," she jabbed a finger at the letter, "she's going to just come here and replace you."

"Chloe, _please_ ," Max said, "don't blame her either. She's still _me_...we're the same person. We're both Max," she reached over and grabbed Chloe's hands, "and if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be here at all and I would be...well, I guess I would be her. Look at what she wrote: you mean everything to her and she would never give up on you. This is _exactly_ what I would write in her shoes. It's true...it's completely true. You mean everything to me, no matter what version of me it is."

"But we're going to be starting over...everything erased," Chloe said, her voice strained, "do you even...do you think you'll still love me?"

"Yes, Chloe," Max said, "if there's one thing I can be pretty sure of, it's that all of the Maxes love all of the Chloes. I know that this other version of me _must_ feel the same way about you that I do. And what happened over these last few days won't be erased; _you'll_ still have it."

Max reached up and gently put a hand to Chloe's head.

Chloe closed her eyes and said, "I guess I'll know how you must have felt coming back to a clueless Chloe on Friday."

"Yeah," Max said, trying a small smile, "you'll get to be the one with all of the knowledge this time."

"But doesn't this bother you?" Chloe said, "getting replaced like this?"

Max thought about it.

_I suppose it_ should _bother me_ , she thought, _I_ will _be gone, in a way._

But there was a feeling inside that Max couldn't quite describe. Something that made her feel grounded, connected, not at all transient. Maybe she was buoyed by knowing that Chloe was safe. Maybe Kate's words had touched her more deeply than she thought. In any case, the feeling was there.

She smiled and said, "I'm okay. I have a feeling...I can't quite describe it. But I feel certain that it will be okay. With me and with you and with us."

Chloe paused for a moment, staring into Max's eyes.

"Shit," she said, "I don't know why but I believe you."

Chloe wiped her eyes and continued, "I'm sorry, Max. I just feel like I'm losing you...and you're the most important person in my life. But I guess you're right, this other you will still be _you_. I just...I hope she's as awesome as you are."

"I may be biased," Max said, "but I think she'll be hella awesome. And hey, she saved your life!"

"True...that's pretty hot," Chloe said, chuckling quietly.

"And again, you'll have all of the knowledge of what's happened over the past few days," Max said, "and knowing you, I'm sure you can have fun with that."

"Yeah...yeah, I suppose I will...," Chloe said, "okay, I think I'm okay with this. I think we'll be okay. Trust in Max...we'll be okay." She breathed deeply.

Max nodded and gave Chloe and encouraging smile. Chloe stepped forward and draped her arms over Max's shoulders, staring into her girlfriend's eyes. She then leaned down and kissed Max softly. Max held Chloe gently until Chloe pulled away and steadied herself.

"Alright, Beta Max," Chloe said with a small smile, "I've had my freak out. Going to focus on making this good. You know, be positive and shit. So what now?"

"Well, first of all," Max said, "my...um...successor…"

"Er...Delta Max?" Chloe said.

Max shrugged.

"What the fuck comes after beta?" Chloe said.

"No idea; I bet Warren would know," Max said.

"On it," Chloe said, pulling out her phone, "go on."

"Right," Max said, "when the new me comes back from the past, be prepared...because _I'm_ totally going to freak out."

"What do you mean?" Chloe said.

Max held up the letter, "I won't know if the plan succeeded. The last time I will have seen you alive was on the cliff during the storm. And I'm pretty sure that the other me had to actually live through the funeral that I've been catching echoes of."

"Oh right, so...um...what should I expect? Crying?" Chloe said.

"Definitely," Max said.

"Hugging?" Chloe said.

"Also certain." Max said.

"Kissing?" Chloe said.

"Er, maybe? I tend to be a bit slow with that," Max said.

Chloe crossed her arms and said, "an insatiable desire to make love to me?"

"Don't count on it. At some point though, I suppose that will be the case," Max replied with a sly smile.

"I'll take that," Chloe said, managing a small grin.

Max glanced at the clock: 1:56.

"Anything you need me to tell...um, you?" Chloe said.

"Tell me all about the last few days, every detail," Max said, smiling, "and tell me to read my journal. And to go to class since I actually did my homework. I won't want to, of course, but it's just one class left today. Just make me do it...it will probably help me clear my head. Oh, and probably mention which people know or suspect that we have a thing for one another."

"Okay...wait, who other than my mom?" Chloe said.

"Er, Dana and Juliet," Max said, "they figured it out when you came to lunch yesterday...they sort of tricked me into spilling the beans. It's actually really adorable how ecstatic they are about it...they want me to tell them all of the details."

"Ha, that's kind of awesome," Chloe said, "so...journal, go to class, did homework, mom, Dana, Juliet. Got it. And...um...I have to ask: what about pranks? This would be an _awesome_ opportunity. I could tell you that we've been having three-ways with Victoria..."

"That would be hella funny but I'd recommend against it," Max said.

"What if we shut the blinds, you lay on the bed, and I come out of the closet like a scary punk ghost?" Chloe said.

"That would definitely not go over well," Max said.

"Oh yeah, I can see why not," Chloe said.

"Besides, there will be other stepping-out-of-the-closet-type things for you to manage," Max said.

"True dat," Chloe said.

Chloe's phone buzzed and she looked at it.

"Gamma?" Chloe said, "are you cereal? Is Warren fucking with us? No way 'g' comes after 'b'."

"I'd believe him," Max said, chuckling.

"Okay...so Gamma Max?" Chloe said.

"Not sure I like that," Max said.

"What about Gammax?" Chloe said.

"Sounds like something you'd take to prevent gas and bloating," Max said.

"Good point," Chloe said, "then let's go with G-Max. Sounds suitably badass."

"On behalf of my future self, I accept," Max said.

They stood for a moment, staring at one another.

"Max," Chloe said, "are you sure this is going to be okay?"

"Yes," Max said, "I am."

Chloe reached over to hold Max's hands.

"I love you, Max," Chloe said.

"I love you too, Chloe," Max said.

Max let go of Chloe's hands and stepped forward. She reached up and tilted Chloe's head down to kiss her. They held the kiss gently and Max savored every moment of Chloe's lips on hers. When they parted, Max nodded to Chloe with a smile and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. Chloe held her tight.

Max felt an incredible sense of peace, being held in Chloe's arms. It was a feeling she never knew she wanted; but now couldn't imagine herself without. Then she felt something else: another embrace, this one reaching from inside...and it felt almost as warm and inviting.

_Alright, Max, take good care of her_ , Max thought as she fell into that embrace, _ha, who am I kidding? Of course I will._

She briefly felt her body jerk and then could no longer feel her body at all. She knew, in that moment, that her future self had returned. She fell into her other self, letting go...letting a strange but comforting warmth envelop her.

But then she bounced.

_Huh?_ she thought.

**. . . . .**

Max jerked slightly in Chloe's arms and Chloe let go. Max stepped back, looking up at Chloe, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. The next moment seemed to stretch out forever...Chloe looked down at Max, into eyes that were so familiar...and yet slightly different. She knew immediately that Beta Max was gone...and anger raged inside of her. Her jaw clenched and she wanted to yell, to turn away, to rip things from the walls and smash everything in sight. But instead she forced herself to stare deeper into Max's eyes. And in those blue eyes she saw something surprisingly familiar: pain...and loss. It was like looking into a mirror...the hollow pain of losing someone you loved. Just as Chloe had lost her father...and Rachel...and even Max for a time, this Max had lost Chloe. Sadness and guilt poured into Chloe's heart. But as she continued to stare deeper, she recognized something else, something that had appeared almost as soon as their eyes had met. It was something Chloe hadn't recognized before...and yet she'd seen it every time Beta Max looked at her. A brightness, a longing...and Chloe now recognized "I love you" in that look. Chloe stared into Max's eyes...and with pain and love staring back at her, her anger melted away. Her sorrow and guilt faded. This was still Max...and just like before, Max needed her...and she needed Max. Chloe smiled, the moment ended, and she felt as if she'd experienced what it was like to stop time.

"Max?" she said.

"Chloe?" Max said, her voice trembling.

"Yep...it's me," Chloe said, spreading her arms wide.

Max practically leapt forward, wrapping her arms around Chloe and squeezing tightly.

"Oh my god, Chloe, oh my god," Max said.

Max was shaking in Chloe's arms, crying quietly...and tears began to fill Chloe's eyes as well.

"Shit, Max," Chloe said, "you're making _me_ cry."

That made Max hold onto Chloe even tighter and they stood, swaying gently in each other's arms.

Finally, Max's grip loosened and she stepped backwards, wiping her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Chloe," Max said, "I...wow...I'm...you must think I'm crazy."

"Yes, definitely," Chloe said, "but not for this. What you _are_ hella crazy for is doing so much to save my sorry ass."

Max's tilted her head, her brow furrowed.

"Here," Chloe said, picking up the bag with the photos that Beta Max had found behind the couch.

"Oh shit," Max said, "I never expected that I would find that. Um...this will take a bit...er...a lot of explaining. You're probably not even going to believe me but...wow, I guess I should have been prepared for this."

"Dude," Chloe said, putting a hand on Max's shoulder, "I know about what happened. About the time rewinding, the photos, everything. Bet...er...the previous you told me about what went down. Saving me in the bathroom, trying to find out what happened to Rachel, the storm, everything."

Max's mouth dropped open.

"Wait...but how?" Max said, "you're alive and…," she glanced out the window, "clearly the storm didn't come...past me wouldn't have experienced _any_ of that."

"Oh trust me, you were hella confused about it," Chloe said, "you insisted it couldn't be possible. Right up until we found that." She gestured to the bag.

"But...it _isn't_ possible," Max said, "the whole last week should've been you and a...normal me."

Chloe shrugged and then reached out to hold Max's hands, saying, "I can't explain it but I _can_ tell you what happened. Nathan shot me but I survived...um, obviously. I woke up in the hospital to find you...er...another version of you...looking down at me. One of the best moments of my life, actually. Turns out you'd been breaking the hospital rules and sneaking in to keep me company, even when I was knocked out. You didn't sleep in a real bed for three nights, just to hang out with me."

Max smiled sheepishly.

"Then, on Friday, another version of you came back," Chloe said, "I didn't realize it until she...er...you...no, she. Fuck it, to make things make some kind of sense, I call the _first_ version of you, the first Max I saw at the hospital, Alpha Max. Which means that…"

"Oh no," Max said, "don't even…"

"Yep, Beta Max," Chloe said with a smile, "anyways, Beta Max thought I would be dead when she popped back to Friday. I didn't know that at the time, of course. But that's what we've spent the last three days doing: trying to find out why I didn't die. And why Beta Max was having weird visions of a funeral. Er, my funeral that is."

"I...I was at that funeral," Max said, squeezing Chloe's hands.

"I'm sorry, Max," Chloe said, pulling Max into a hug, "I can't even imagine how shitty that must have been for you to go through. After everything you've told me...I just...obviously I'm glad I'm alive for myself, but I'm so glad I'm alive for you too."

Max was at a complete loss for words.

"So what the hell happened? In your...timeline," Chloe said.

"Do you know everything that happened in the original timeline?" Max said, "including the...decision I made by the lighthouse...during the storm?"

Max was grasping her elbow and fidgeting. Chloe smiled softly and put her hands on Max's shoulders.

"Yeah," Chloe said, "and don't you dare fucking apologize again. I know that _I_ was the one who asked you to go back. That you wouldn't have done it otherwise."

"Chloe, I'm so sor…," Max began but Chloe clamped a hand over her mouth.

"I swear, Max," Chloe said, looking skyward momentarily, "the apologizing and the emojis. Okay, promise me this: no more sorrys over that decision. _Or_ over moving to Seattle and losing contact. That ground has been thoroughly covered. Already forgiven."

Max mumbled behind Chloe's hand.

"I'll take that as acceptance of my conditions," Chloe said removing her hand.

Max looked up with a half smile.

"So," Chloe said, "how did you do it? Beta Max and I had only wild speculation and a half-assed plan."

"Okay," Max said, letting out a long breath, "I'm completely tripping out over so many things right now but here's what happened. After going back to the bathroom on Monday, I ended up back at the lighthouse on Friday. The storm was gone...but so were you."

Max sat down on her bed and Chloe sat next to her. Max leaned over, resting her head on Chloe's shoulder and Chloe put an arm around Max's waist.

"I went to the funeral," Max said, "so many people were there, Chloe, so many."

Chloe nodded.

"There was a moment," Max said, "just a moment, where I let you go. I accepted it. You were gone. But then I looked over at your mom...I'd never seen her that devastated, not even when William died. And then I sort of...looked into myself and felt like I was empty and alone...like I'd lost a huge part of myself. And then I thought about that new timeline's version of you: you died without knowing what happened to Rachel, without knowing that I was there, and without knowing any of the other things we discovered together. I realized then that there was more that I could do; that it didn't have to be over. It was a decision. I accepted that you were gone and then I decided to change that."  
She looked up at Chloe.

"I just couldn't imagine, after everything we'd been through, leaving it all in a pocket of time that never really existed...and never seeing you again," Max said.

"What did you do?" Chloe said.

"I started by telling Warren everything," Max said, "I still had my powers. I thought that I'd lose them but they were still there. It all felt a little...weak, somehow, but they were there. Warren and I talked about it for hours and we realized that I'd been taking something of a...how did Warren put it? A Maxwell Silver Hammer approach to time travel. Big sweeping changes resulting in...gut punches to reality that created out-of-the-blue disasters. We reasoned that nature's responses to me messing around with time were proportional. A big change, a big response. So we tested it out: I did small things, made little changes, and paid very close attention. And we found that nature responded. A shadow here or there didn't look right or a sudden gust of wind would come out of nowhere. Small responses to small things. From there we determined that what I did in the bathroom to save you originally was probably a _huge_ deal in the grand scheme of things. There were a lot of consequences that were changed there. So...if I wanted to save you, I needed to find something small to change...something that would minimize the impact. And that's when the plan formed. It was actually David's idea, in a way. I was talking to him and Joyce and he mentioned that if the gun had just been a bit further to the right, you'd have survived. That was the key. You still had to get shot because Nathan and Jefferson still needed to be caught. And I had to not, as Warren put it, disrupt the space time continuum, right then and there in that bathroom."

"So you went back," Chloe said, "and removed bullets from Nathan's gun."

"Wowser," Max said with a smile, "you and...um...past me really did figure it out."

"Wait," Chloe said, "how did you get Nathan's safe combination?"

"Huh?" Max said.

"To get to his gun," Chloe said.

"It wasn't in a safe," Max said, "it was sitting on a shelf in his closet."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Chloe said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Ugh," she continued, "I guess it was worth it in the end though."

She flashed a sly smile at Max.

"Alright," Max said, crossing her arms, "now you better tell _me_ the details of what's happened over the last few days."

"Is it strange? Being on the other side of this?" Chloe said, leaning back against the wall with a grin.

"Yeah," Max said, "although it's happened before; after I went back through a photo to the Vortex Club party. Although…you didn't actually tell me much. I got most of it through weird little flashes of memory. Which, come to think of it, I didn't have anything like that _this_ time when I came back...just a vague image of a hospital room."

Max leaned back next to Chloe.

"What do you think that means?" Chloe said.

"No idea," Max said, "but hey...maybe past me went off into her own alternate reality or something. Who knows?"

"She seemed pretty chill about the whole thing," Chloe said, "had an 'everything's going to be fine' sort of feeling."

"Well, if she's not here in me," Max said, patting her head, "I wish her the best."

They sat for a moment, staring at the ceiling before Max nudged Chloe.

"Hey," she said, "story time."

"Oh right," Chloe said, "so...you jumped all over me at the hospital on Friday night…"

Chloe told Max about their time at the hospital and how Max broke into Nathan's room the following day. She described Saturday evening, including the kiss dare.

"Aha," Max said with a grin, "I wondered if you'd do that again."

"Oh, just you wait," Chloe said, "you too will understand the disadvantages of not remembering what a past version of yourself said…or did."

Max felt a tingling rush of nervousness, both exciting and terrifying, at that.

Chloe went on to describe how Max proved her powers and how they went to the junkyard, visiting Rachel's original grave, at which point Max scooted closer to Chloe and held her hand. Chloe then described how Max had told the entire story of the original timeline and how Sunday had ended with homework and research binging.

"Oh right," Chloe said, "Beta Max wanted me to remind you to actually go to class, particularly since your homework is done."

"What? As in, _today?_ " Max said, incredulous, "how can I possibly sit through a class when I just got you back?"

"Because _I'm_ telling you to do it because Beta Max told me to tell you to do it," Chloe said, "you're not going to make the mistakes I did."

Max smiled and said, "wow, what did I do to you?"

"Not to that part yet," Chloe said, winking.

Chloe detailed the visit to Nathan and the brief (for Chloe) encounter with Mr. Jefferson afterward. At the mention of Jefferson, Max tensed up and Chloe turned, putting an arm around her.

"Hey," Chloe said, "I told Beta Max this and you need to know too: you never need to hide what you're feeling from me. You went through some awful shit. Hell, you had it worse than Beta Max did. I won't lie: it's going to take time for you to get through it...and even then, it will always be a part of you. Trust me, I know. But I'm going to help you through it. I'm here for you whenever you need me. Always."

Max relaxed. Her hand, which had been inching towards her wrist, fell to her side.

"Thanks, Chloe," Max said, "I...that means a lot. So much. Especially since I wasn't there for you when..."

"Max...," Chloe said, "I know that that sentiment is leading towards one of those forbidden apologies."

"I...okay, you're right," Max said, "but I want you to know that I'm here for you now too. Always. I'm never leaving you again."

"I know, Max," Chloe said, "we're together now...neither of us has to face anything alone anymore."

Max squeezed Chloe's hand.

"And," Chloe continued, "speaking of facing things...Jefferson is still rotting away in a cell at the police station. If you want to, we can hop down there and you can scream all you want at that asshole. Apparently you tore him a new one when we were there before but had to rewind it. I just wish I could've heard it; it sounded fucking badass and you said it made you feel hella great."

Max smiled.

"Anyways, after interrogating Nathan, we decided to break into the Prescott mansion to sneak into Nathan's secret underground apartment," Chloe said.

Max's smile disappeared.

"We _what?_ " Max said.

"Yep, we totally broke into the Prescott mansion," Chloe said with a grin, "and you _are_ a fucking superhero, Max. No kidding. We busted in there, snuck past the guards, and found Nathan's sweet digs."

"Sweet digs?" Max said, "I thought he lived here at Blackwell full time...his place there wasn't filled with cobwebs? And it wasn't, you know, creepy as hell?"

"No, it was surprisingly awesome," Chloe said, "they actually keep it clean and fresh. I guess that's how you roll when you've got hella cash. Anyways, we found the pictures that yielded the useless combination to Nathan's safe...and we found nearly ten grand in Nathan Prescott drug money."

Max's jaw dropped.

" _We did?_ " Max said.

"Well, _I_ did," Chloe said, "but we're sharing it. I paid back Frank already so the rest is for us to go to Portland and do all kinds of other awesome stuff."

"Wowser," Max said.

"And, drum roll please...we chilled out in Nathan's hot tub," Chloe said.

" _Nathan's_ hot tub? Are you cereal? That sounds super gross," Max said, wrinkling her nose.

"Dude," Chloe said, "remember...clean and fresh."

"Oh right," Max said, "so wait...Nathan has an underground hot tub?"

"An awesome one," Chloe said, "it was like getting a massage."

"You know, I could totally get behind that," Max said, "splish splash."

"Damn right," Chloe said.

"So then we just left?" Max said.

"Er, that was a little more difficult," Chloe said, "you had to use some serious time wizardry to get us out of there. We were fucking exhausted by the time we got back to my place. But mission accomplished, Bat Max...we got out completely unnoticed. You even overheard one of the guards at the Two Whales this morning and confirmed it!"

"Holy shit, that's great!" Max said.

"Oh right, and just a teeny tiny minor point to add in...really small detail...almost slipped my mind: after we got back to my place, we totally made out...for, like, two hours," Chloe said, grinning.

Max was silent, slowly turning a bright red. Her brain felt like it froze up.

"You, Max Caulfield, are a fucking amazing kisser, by the way," Chloe said, nudging Max with her elbow.

Max turned redder.

"I...we...you're not...messing with me, are you?" Max said.

"Nope," Chloe said, "not even slightly. I promised Beta Max that I wouldn't prank you or tell wild stories...er, _untrue_ wild stories, that is. I'm regretting that promise, honestly. But it was a promise to _you_ so...yep, everything I'm saying is true. It was fucking awesome."

Max turned to face Chloe, biting her lower lip.

"Wow...that... _is_ pretty fucking awesome. But...where does that leave _us?_ " Max said.

"I...huh...I don't really know," Chloe said, "we're in a hella unique situation."

"Do you still...like me that way? Even though I'm...different?" Max said.

_Please say yes_ , Max thought.

"To paraphrase a certain Max," Chloe said, "I'm pretty sure that all of the Chloes are totally crushing on all of the Maxes."

Max smiled.

"So yeah," Chloe said, "...um...do you also...like me that way?"

"Yes...yes I do," Max said, "I'm just...it feels so weird."

"Maybe take some time to catch up again?" Chloe said.

"Yeah," Max said, "that would be perfect."

_I'm so tempted to kiss her right_ now, Max thought, _I haven't seen her this happy since we were kids. It's all there in her eyes: she's so_ alive. _I guess I did do one hell of a good job after all. And so did the past versions of me. Thanks, past Maxes, you both made Chloe this happy, and that's hella amazing. And as much as I want to jump all over Chloe right now, it_ is _a good idea to take some time. My brain is absolutely spinning over all of this. Besides, Chloe hasn't finished her story..._

"You stopped at last night," Max said, "what about today?"

"Oh," Chloe said, "we woke up super late, went to the Two Whales…"

"Of course," Max interjected.

"...and then...um...we I paid Frank back, you had a vision of the funeral, and we came up here," Chloe continued, "you almost tried to go back through a photo of your room but we found the packet instead and, well, you know the rest."

Max was silent. Chloe fidgeted slightly...she had decided at the last second to keep her and Beta Max's confessions of love to herself...at least until her and G-Max got to that point.

"I don't even know what to do or say," Max finally said.

_This really is a lot to take in_ , Max thought, _I was so focused on travelling back to get the bullets out of Nathan's gun that I didn't really think about what would happen if I succeeded. And what's happened is amazing...way more amazing and way more confusing than I thought it would be._

"Well," Chloe said, "I do know what you _should_ do: go to class."

"Ugh, are you kidding me?" Max said.

"I'm serious," Chloe said, "although here," she pushed herself off the bed and snatched Max's journal out of the bag on the floor, "if you get bored in class, read this. Beta Max said that a lot of the details and important stuff are in here. You were really curious about some tasks that Rachel apparently gave to some people before she died. And you were also really curious about Sean Prescott's creepy-ass study."

"I...okay. What about you? What are you going to do?" Max said, standing up.

"I'm going to hang around until you're out of class," Chloe said, "then we go and party!"

"Promise you'll be here?" Max said, grasping Chloe's arm.

"Yeah, of course," Chloe said, "and if shit ever hits the fan, you've been taking pictures and putting the dates and times on them for emergencies."

"Wow," Max said, her eyebrows going up, "that's a really good idea." She picked up her bag and dug through, grabbing the stack of emergency photos.

"Yuck," she said, flipping through them, "not my best work. Although...some of these are actually okay."

"Ha, such a nerd," Chloe said, ruffling Max's hair.

Max put the photos back in her bag and hefted it over her shoulder. She stood staring at Chloe, a half smile on her face that somehow conveyed more happiness than the largest grin.

"...and a dork," Chloe said, putting her hands on her hips, "now let's get going."

"Anything else I should know?" Max said as they left the dorm, Max clinging to Chloe's arm.

"Oh, um, apparently Dana and Juliet know that you and I have a thing for each other," Chloe said.

Max groaned.

"And so does my mom," Chloe said.

"What!?" Max said.

"What can I say," Chloe said, "she's got mom-sense."

"Okay okay," Max said, "alright, I just have to get through one class…"

"And then you'll have me all night!" Chloe said, wrapping Max in a surprise hug.

Max laughed and held Chloe tight.

"Oh, and by the way, we also had a deal," Chloe said, "I get to pick an outfit for you at some point."

"Really?" Max said, "what do I get out of the deal?"

"You already got your end: you got to pick a movie a few nights ago," Chloe said.

"I feel like I need to renegotiate the terms of this deal," Max said.

"Check your text messages," Chloe said, "it's all there."

Max sighed.

"Oh," Max said, "and do I have an awful nickname? Like Beta Max? What comes after beta?"

"Gamma," Chloe said, wrinkling her nose.

"Really? How did you...oh, you texted Warren, didn't you?" Max said.

"Yep," Chloe said.

"So...Gamma Max?" Max said, "seems lame."

"It _is_ lame, so we didn't go with it...almost went with Gammax," Chloe said.

"Sounds like something you'd take to relieve bloating and indigestion," Max said.

"Ha! Almost exactly what you said before," Chloe said, "but no, we settled on...G-Max."

"Not too bad," Max said, "although honestly I prefer just plain Max."

"Of course you do, G," Chloe said.

Max sighed loudly but Chloe couldn't miss the smile that hadn't truly left Max's face since she'd come back from the past. When they reached the front of the school, Max wrapped her arms around Chloe's waist.

"Chloe, this is going to make me sound like I'm four years old but...I don't want to leave you," Max said.

"Max, after what you've been through, I get it," Chloe said quietly, "but I'll be right here, right outside, chilling and putting my brain back together after all of this wacky shit."

Max smiled and released Chloe.

"Yeah, actually, I probably need some brain reassembly too," Max said.

"Is your class, um, conducive to that?" Chloe said.

"Media Literacy? Mr. Lee is either incredibly awesome or incredibly boring...nothing in between. So if it's the latter, I'm going to pull out my journal and get to know...um...my past self," Max said.

"Beta Max, G," Chloe said, "you can say it...you know you want to."

Max crossed her arms.

"Okay, fine," Chloe continued, "eventually you'll accept it. Now you'd better get in there. The bell's going to ring any moment and there will be Blackwell kids all over. If they see me crushing out over you, it will completely ruin my tough punk persona."

"Do you really care about that?" Max said with a coy smile.

"Ha, no, but a promise is a promise and I have to make up _some_ excuse," Chloe said.

"Okay, I'll pretend for now that it's legit," Max said.

"Thanks, Max, you're a saint," Chloe said.

Max chuckled and said, "see you soon, Chloe."

"See you soon," Chloe said back, wrapping Max in a hug.

They broke away and Max walked up the steps while Chloe strode over to the fountain ledge and sat down, pulling out her phone and a cigarette.

Max looked back over, watching the water reflections dancing on Chloe.

_I love that girl_ , she thought.

She pulled out her camera and took a shot of Chloe. As she shook the photo, she was nearly overcome with the desire to run back to Chloe...to kiss her wildly and take off on some new adventure.

_We went through five days of craziness together and then I went through another four days without her_ , Max thought, putting the photo and her camera back in her bag, _I can wait an hour and a half to be with her again. Then we'll have all the time in the world._

Chloe looked over at Max and grinned.

"Yo Max, I'm totally going to text you while you're in class," she called out.

"You better!" Max called back.

"Don't get caught!" Chloe said.

"I won't! Not with my special tricks," Max said.

"And no emojis!" Chloe said.

Max spun around and walked towards the door, calling out behind her, "sorry, couldn't hear you! Bye!"

"There will be consequences for that, Max!" Chloe said, a laugh in her voice.

Max waved and stepped into the building as the bell rang.

**. . . . .**

**  
_Three Days Later…_  
**

Chloe pulled her truck up in front of Blackwell and called out the window, "Max, let's go! Portland! Truck! Adventure!"

"Okay!" Max called back.

She turned back to Warren and Kate, who were sitting in front of the fountain.

"Max, get going," Kate said, "you can talk to us when you get back."

"Yeah, Max," Warren said, "Chloe's about to come over here and I do not want to get on her bad side for interfering with your 'epic weekend lovefest.'"

"Our _what?_ " Max said, blushing. Kate giggled.

Warren raised his hands.

"Chloe's words, not mine," he said.

His eyes widened.

"Uh oh, here she comes," he said.

He stood up and grabbed Max by the shoulders, spinning her around. Both he and Kate began pushing her towards the approaching Chloe, who sauntered towards them with an impish grin on her face that quickly turned to a pout.

"Oh, come on," Chloe said, "I was trying to sneak up."

"Looks like this backfired, Warren," Kate said.

"Yes, and that means it's time to exercise the better part of valor," Warren said.

"Be discreet?" Kate asked, her brow furrowed.

"No," Warren said, "retreat."

They both stepped back from Max, who flailed her arms and nearly fell backwards before they steadied her.

"Bye Max, bye Chloe," Warren said, stepping away, "have fun and bring Brooke and I some donuts!"

"Bye Warren!" Max and Chloe said.

Kate remained, pulling Max's small suitcase up and handing it over.

"Thanks, Kate," Max said.

"You're welcome," Kate said with a smile.

"Dude," Chloe said, "you're bringing a _suitcase?_ "

"It's small," Max said.

"But we're only going to be there til Sunday," Chloe said.

"Yeah, but this keeps everything neat," Max said, "well...at least until I open it. Where did you put your stuff?"

"Grocery bags," Chloe said, grinning.

"Ah, sounds about right," Max said with a smile.

"Chloe, if you want a bag or a suitcase," Kate said, "I have a couple in my room that you could borrow."

"Thanks, Kate, I'm okay," Chloe said, "it's how I roll. Besides, it's just two days."

"Do you have a bag for your toiletries?" Kate asked.

"Yep, a plastic grocery one," Chloe said.

"Oh," Kate said, "well if you ever need a toiletries bag, just let me know."

"You can also use mine," Max said, "I have extra room. They always make them for people who use way more stuff than I do."

"Again: two...days…," Chloe said, "but I've learned something today."

"A better packing paradigm?" Max said.

"That you can borrow anything you need from your friends?" Kate said.

"No," Chloe said, "well, yeah, I guess. But what I was going for was: when Max and I get an RV someday, _Max_ will be the one to handle organization."

"Dude, I am _barely_ better than you at keeping things in a state that resembles sanity," Max said.

"Yeah, but when we're off adventuring, that little bit will count," Chloe said, ruffling Max's hair, "besides, give yourself credit, you're _way_ better at it."

Kate, her face lit by a huge smile, said, "you're going to get an RV? And go on adventures? That is so amazing! You'll have so much fun!"

"Kate," Chloe said, putting an arm around Kate's shoulders, "if you ever want to come on an RV adventure with us, you are welcome to do so."

"Thanks," Kate said, smiling sheepishly.

"No problem," Chloe said, turning to Max, "finally ready to go, hippie?"

"Let's do it!" Max said.

"Not in public, Max," Chloe said, "and not in front of Kate."

Kate blushed furiously and Max slapped a hand to her forehead while Chloe laughed.

"Sorry," Chloe said, "that was just too perfect."

Kate smiled and shared an eyeroll with Max.

"Bye Kate, have a good weekend," Max said, giving Kate a hug.

"You too, Max," Kate said.

"Stay classy," Chloe said to Kate.

"Bye Chloe, have fun," Kate said.

Kate walked away towards the dorms and Max and Chloe walked to the truck, Chloe's arm around Max's shoulders.

"Alright, Mad Max, we're going on our first road adventure," Chloe said, "and by the way, I fully expect you to drive for part of this. I ain't driving the whole way."

"Er...okay," Max said.

"Don't worry," Chloe said, "Beta Max drove this beast a bunch while I was popping painkillers. You'll do fine."

They reached the truck and Max hefted her suitcase into the back.

"Think Mulder and Scully will follow us to Portland?" Chloe said, glancing at a car idling down the street.

"No," Max said, "er...unless something's changed. After all, they're only _supposed_ to be watching us here in Arcadia Bay. I'm sure they'll tell Prescott where we're off to and they'll probably be waiting to stalk us again when we get back. Also, we do know their real names now."

"True, but I still like calling them Mulder and Scully," Chloe said, "and as for the why...do you still think Vicky C.'s theory holds water?"

"I am _so_ glad she hasn't heard you call her that yet," Max said, "and I don't know...the idea that they're trying to find something to discredit us? To boost Nathan's chances of getting out? I guess it's a decent theory but it seems...incomplete. There always seems to be something else going on…"

"Yeah, no kidding," Chloe said.

Chloe was about to get in the truck when Max waved her over.

"One photo?" Max said.

"Sure!" Chloe said.

They stood in front of the truck and Max pointed her camera at them, snapping a picture. She grabbed the printed photo and shook it, saying, "well, at least we won't have to worry about the Prescott crap in Portland."

"Yet another part of this to look forward to," Chloe said, "two whole days away from Arcadia Bay! This is going to be incredible."

"That's because it's with you," Max said, standing on her tiptoes and kissing Chloe on the lips and then on the nose.

"You're such a dork," Chloe said, kissing Max's forehead.

"Me? You're the one who's calling this an 'epic weekend lovefest'," Max said, grinning and hopping into the truck.

"Guilty as charged, Saxy Maxy," Chloe said.

She hopped into the driver's seat, raised a middle finger to the car that had followed her up to Blackwell, and started the drive towards the edge of town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "Three Days Later..." section is meant to be a sneak peek at the sequel to this story. I almost decided not to include it but it grew on me and I decided to keep it as a kind of mini epilogue. The sequel itself will actually start just moments after where this story left off on Tuesday, with Max heading to class.


	15. Epilogue: Two Roads Diverged

...then Max bounced.

_Huh?_ she thought.

It was the only way she could think to describe it: a bounce.

Her vision cleared and she tried to blink...but she didn't have eyes to blink. She was standing...no, floating...right next to herself. She saw herself letting go of Chloe and stepping back. Chloe and the other Max stared at each other.

"Max?" Chloe said. Floating Max could barely hear it; it sounded like Chloe was speaking under water.

"Chloe?" said the other Max.

_What's going on?_ Max thought, _if that's_ me, _what am_ I _?_

"Yep...it's me," Chloe said, spreading her arms.

Max watched as the other version of herself jumped into Chloe's arms. Max laughed as she watched the unbridled joy in her other self. The laugh made no sound, but Max felt it nonetheless.

Then the room began to change. At first Max thought she was going cross-eyed...it was like another Chloe was emerging from the first, along with another Max. They were wrapped in each other's arms, seemingly frozen in time. It was slightly different though...and Max realized that this new image was the last thing _she'd_ experienced.

She felt herself being pulled in that direction.

"Oh my god, Chloe, oh my god," she heard the other Max say, as if from a distance.

Max drifted closer to the frozen version of herself, pulled inexorably as the two scenes pulled further and further apart.

"Shit, Max," she heard Chloe say faintly, "you're making _me_ cry."

And then everything went dark...and Max could feel again.

She opened her eyes and saw Chloe's shoulder; she felt Chloe's arms around her.

_What the hell?_ Max thought.

She pulled away and looked down at her hands and at her body.

"Max?" Chloe said.

Max looked up. She hadn't expected to ever see Chloe's face again, at least not as her current self. She stared into Chloe's eyes. Those eyes were filled with conflicting emotion: hope battling sadness.

"Max?" Chloe repeated, putting her hands on Max's shoulders, "are you okay?"

"Um, yeah," Max said, "I'm just...really confused."

Chloe tilted her head.

"Not expecting me to be here?" Chloe said.

"No, I...it's still me," Max said.

"Beta Max?" Chloe said.

Max cringed and said, "yeah."

Chloe wrapped her in a hug, pinning Max's arms to her sides.

"Shit," Chloe said, "you had me really scared there. I wasn't sure what the fuck was going on."

"That makes two of us," Max said.

"Is G-Max a no show?" Chloe asked, releasing Max, "or is she just late?"

"Er...neither, I think," Max said.

Chloe raised an eyebrow and Max continued, "Chloe, I'm not sure what just happened...it was really weird. She totally came back, the other me; one moment it was me and then I was sort of...falling. It felt like I was becoming a part of her...sinking into her but then...I bounced."

"You...bounced?" Chloe said, "what does that mean?"

"I don't know how else to describe it," Max said, "it felt like I hit some kind of wall and came back. And then suddenly I was sort of...floating next to...well...me. It was the other me and I watched her totally freak out that you were alive. It was...really sweet, actually."

"Whoa," Chloe said, "so you saw G-Max?"

"Yeah," Max said.

"And you were there? Invisible and outside of your body?" Chloe said.

Max nodded.

"You were a ghost!" Chloe said, "a hipster ghost!"

Max smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I sort of was," Max said, "but then I got pulled...here."

"Wait, so what's 'here' if you and I were _there?_ " Chloe said.

"That's the other weird part," Max said, "it was like everything split. They went one way and then I got pulled here. I...think we split time."

"So wait...you and me are here and...the other you and...another _me_...are _there?_ " Chloe said.

"Yeah," Max said.

"Shit, that's confusing as hell," Chloe said, shaking her head, "so...is that it? No more replacements? It's...you and me, permanently?"

"It sure seems like it," Max said, "everything I just saw, as strange as it was, certainly says so."

Chloe paused for a moment and then laughed loudly. She wrapped her arms around Max, lifted her off the ground, and spun around.

"Whoa!" Max exclaimed before grabbing Chloe tightly and kissing her.

Chloe lowered Max and leaned into the kiss. In moments they'd toppled onto Max's bed, Chloe straddling Max and kissing her deeply while Max raked her hands through Chloe's hair. All of the worries and uncertainties of the past few days melted away and Max let go completely, letting her lips and hands express just how amazing she felt. Suddenly Chloe pulled away and sat up.

"When's your next class?" Chloe said.

"Um...2:30," Max said breathlessly.

Chloe pulled out her phone.

"There, I set an alarm," Chloe said, "this is how you both make out with your girlfriend and get her to class on time."

In response, Max reached up and pulled Chloe down to kiss her again, holding her tightly. Chloe snuck her arms beneath Max's shoulders and rolled to the side, pulling Max with her. Side by side, they released the kiss and stared into each other's eyes.

"I love you, Max," Chloe said.

"I love you too, Chloe," Max said.

They smiled at each other, finally at peace...and then worry touched Chloe's face.

"Max?" Chloe said, "about the time splitting thing...you don't think we'll get royally fucked for that, do you?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure," Max said, "but...remember that feeling I had earlier?"

Chloe nodded, her worry already starting to fade.

"I think we'll be okay," Max said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This has been a blast to write and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> At this point you might be wondering: wait a second...what about the Rachel stuff? And the Sean Prescott stuff? Did that stuff not _go_ anywhere? And why the hell did Beta Max ever exist and why is there now an alternate reality?  
>  The answer is...there will be a sequel to this story! The first complete draft of it is nearly finished and will answer the questions that I left open. Whereas _Small Things_ was my take on "how does Max have her cake and eat it too vis-a-vis Chloe?" (that's also the first time I've ever written "vis-a-vis"), the sequel will be my take on where Max's powers came from and why everything from the original story happened. Big stuff...and very speculative...but it will still have, at its core, the Max-Chloe relationship, growing it from where it stands with Chloe and G-Max now. And it will have the trip to Portland, among other adventures.  
>  As with this story, I'm going to write the whole thing before starting to release it. I was going to write Max's journal entries that cover the span of _Small Things_ but I found it better to just start on the sequel (it’s possible I may write the journal entries later but I’m not sure yet). Unfortunately my writing has slowed a bit as I’m currently in the process of moving but I’m still chugging away at it!  
>  Thanks again!  
>  **An update on this story's sequel** : the entire story is written and I just finished my first pass edit of the whole thing! It's been slow work because I've been in the midst of a move, a search for a new job (while still working full time), and a search for a house. Also, the sequel is a bit of a monster...it's quite a bit longer than Small Things, mostly to convey tons of the moments that I hope the audience is looking for and will enjoy. Finally, I changed a few major things from the first draft because things weren't quite working the way I wanted them to (also...one tiny line from Before the Storm made me rethink several things). So now I'm on to a second pass edit of the whole story, which hopefully won't take as much time. From there I'll edit and release each chapter individually!  
>  **Another sequel update** : I'm a little more than halfway through the second edit! There haven't been any major changes so far...mostly just trying to even out the tone and make adjustments to dialogue and descriptions...if I was being good, I'd cut out entire swaths that aren't _directly_ pertinent to the main story...but I'm sort of assuming that readers will enjoy spending more time with Max  & Chloe so I've only cut out some pieces. Once the second edit is done, I'll probably do a few spot changes and then start releasing chapters! The rate of that typically ranges from as long as 3 days between chapters to as quick as two chapters in a day.  
>  **Yet another sequel update** : The second full edit is finished! Now it's down to the last tasks:  
> 1\. Spot-checking the short sections of new content that came from the second full edit (3 of them).  
> 2\. Fixing 3-4 small continuity errors (involves going back and either removing a line or two or adding a line or two).  
> 3\. Potentially adding in one quick plot point to a couple of spots that could help with the feel of Max's character in this story (it's not _needed_ so if it's not working easily, I'll skip it).  
>  4\. Finalizing the story's title and generating artwork (this weekend).  
> 5\. Setting up the framework here and at FanFiction (summary, tags, etc.).  
> 6\. Releasing Chapter 1! Each chapter release will involve a read-through and last edit of the chapter, copying it over to FanFiction.net, correcting any paragraph spacing errors (the most common issue I get), generating an AO3 version (which is a little more involved), and then releasing the chapter both here and at FanFiction.net simultaneously!

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story earlier this year and posted it elsewhere. Based on a suggestion from a reader there, I'm copying it over to AO3! There's a bit more formatting than I anticipated...and I'm currently working on the sequel to this story...so it'll probably be a few days before I get all of the chapters over here.


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